Apparently people have no clue how difficult, and more precisely expensive and time-consuming, becoming a legal resident is. Taking a test is but a teeny-tiny portion and the most easiest part of the process.
For a Mexican to become a legal US resident and get a Green Card will cost somewhere between $5000 and $10000 in fees per person, 90% of which is lawyers fees. And that's the cheap lawyers. It will also take you 2-4 years to complete the entire process, sometimes much more, 90% of which is waiting for the INS to process something.
And all that time you need to be somewhat near an INS office so you can actually go there when they finally get back to you. Every 2-6 months you'll need to come in and do/sign/pay something else. Not exactly a possibility for your average migrant worker. Even for those that live near the city, taking a day off work to go to the nearest big city to wait in a line where they may or may not even get to talk to someone that day, isn't exactly easy.
To become an actual US citizen will take another 2 years and another few thousand dollars.
But first before you do any of that you have to gain legal entry into the country. That means that you have to either have someone that can provide for you (which 99% of immigrants aren't going to have) or you're going to have to prove that you possess a skill that will provide you with sufficient income to maintain you 25% above the poverty level. That's a standard that even 1 out of 5 American citizens can't meet. How in the hell can we actually expect the average Mexican to meet that standard when we can hardly do it ourselves?
So if you're a hard-working individual that wants to do right by his family and provide a better future for them, a virtual impossibility in Mexico, how exactly do you come here legally? The chances of you being able to do so are incredibly slim. So you're going to do whatever you need to do to provide for your family. And if anyone here says that they'd do otherwise they're a [censored] liar.
The whole "Well my family came here legally" argument is stupid and ignorant of the problem. A hundred or two-hundred years ago, when most of our families came here, it was easy to become a citizen. You signed your name in a book. That's it. You don't have a problem with illegal immigration if that's all you need; people are happy to enter legally. And 95% of the ones here now would be happy to enter legally too if it didn't cost more than they earn in a year let alone can save, and take an entire generation to get your whole family here.
A huge percentage of this nation is Irish in various percentages. A population surge that on a per capita basis undoubtedly dwarved the Hispanic surge into this nation. Most of that surge was a result of famine coupled with centuries-old persecution. I guarantee you that virtually every single one of them would have entered illegally if that's what it took, I know my family would have. They didn't of course because it didn't cost anything aside from passage on a tramp steamer to enter the country.
I'm certainly not saying that we should make it "easy" to enter the country legally. But we damn sure need to make it easier and cheaper if we actually want to get a hold on our illegal immigration problem.
