SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- In a recent commentary, I spelled out what bothers many Hispanics about the immigration debate. In response, many readers demanded to know -- for all my criticisms -- how I would go about fixing our broken immigration system. I thought they'd never ask.

First, let's keep it real. Congress doesn't have the appetite to reform the immigration system -- no matter which party is running the show. It's always the same story. After all the huffing and puffing, any workable solution needs to have two components: employer sanctions with teeth and a tamper-proof identification card for all U.S. workers to tell employers who is eligible to work. Republicans won't allow the first; Democrats won't allow the second. Game over.

But, if it were so inclined, here's what Congress should do:

1) By way of enforcement -- stiffen penalties against employers with a "three strikes" law (first offense, a warning; second, $10,000 fine; third, 10 days in jail); revise the 1996 Immigration Reform and Control Act by removing the word "knowingly," as in employers only face punishment if they knowingly hire an illegal immigrant; create an identification card; instead of adding more border patrol agents (the agency can't meet hiring goals as it is), give the agents already on the line better tools, including tunnel detection equipment; extend the deployment of the National Guard on the border, now set to expire on July 15; continue workplace raids but, for heaven's sake, arrest an employer every once in a while; and speed up deportations.

2) By way of legalizing the undocumented -- make it contingent on meeting enforcement goals, or "triggers"; establish a cutoff so that only those who can prove that they've been in the country for five years or more are eligible to apply for legal status and deport more recent arrivals; require applicants to learn English, pay a $5,000 fine, undergo criminal background checks, return to their home country to be processed, and take their place in the back of the line behind all those who are trying to enter the country legally; and, for those who are eventually given legal status, institute a lifetime ban on receiving welfare, Medicaid or food stamps but allow them to collect what they've contributed to Social Security.

3) By way of reforming the system for those who immigrate legally -- increase the allotment of green cards and work visas, including H1B visas for highly skilled workers; triple the number of legal immigrants currently admitted from 1 million to 3 million, or 1 percent of the total U.S. population; abandon the current system of using family reunification as the main criteria for admitting new immigrants but don't adopt the silly and offensive idea of a point system that rewards education and skills; instead, let the market drive the process by making labor demands the major criteria so (how's this for radical?) we always have jobs for those who come here instead of admitting engineers and doctors if what we really need are teachers and nurses.

This isn't brain surgery. But some of this will take courage and common sense. The bad news is, those can be scarce commodities in Washington.

Commentary: How to fix our broken immigration system - CNN.com

This is the author's follow-up to the prior thread I posted. I find some measures a bit harsh, particularly in respect to returning to their country for processing and lifelong ban on Medicaid, but otherwise sounds fair and to the point. Looks like someone from "the race" can be fair-minded. Who knew?

Punishing employers for hiring illegal requires a Fed. ID card. Without it, you are placing an unreasonable burden on the employer to know who is legal and who isn't.

Rewarding the illegals who are in this country is a bad idea. It didn't work the first time and it won't work now. If you are here illegally, you go home (with the exception detailed below). If you want to enter this country legally, just backtrack the same route you took to get here and then come through the "front door".

Immigration quotas should be based on compliance with a recipricol agreement wherein any country which want to allow immigration from thier country to ours agrees to incarcerate their criminals which are convicted here for the term specified by our courts. I call it the "Don't make your problem our problem" agreement.

Bonds are a must. Without them, we leave ourselves open to people coming here for the sole purpose of tapping into our social services and not contributing to our nation. Establish a base bond of $5,000 and adjust it based on a sliding scale depending on factors like education, needed skills, having a job waiting for them, etc. If you are convicted of a felony, you lose your bond. If you tap into our social services, you lose your bond dollar for dollar for what you received. If your bond goes to $0, you leave until you can re-fund your bond.

Providing social services must be coupled with a check against the recipients legal status. If they are not legal, it must be required that the service provider report them to INS. If the provider is a private org. and fails to carry out their duties, no gov't money for them. If the provider is a civil org., then the person who's responsible loses their job, with no re-hire allowed.

If a nat'l ID card is established, make hiring an illegal a felony crime with a big fine attached. But also allow the employer to post a double bond (half goes to the actual bond, the other half goes to the gov't) to have the employee granted legal status. This alllows for high-value employees to be retained, but they've got to be HIGH value for an employer to write the $10,000-$15,000 check this would require. Repeat offences by the same employer would lead to rapidly increasing fines and eventually jail time in order to keep illegals from using this to by-pass the system.

Eliminate "anchor babies". If you are born in this country from parents who here legally - fine. But if your parents are not here legally, then you are not a US citizen.

Elimnate chain immigration where one person gets here legally and then his brothers, sisters, wives, kids, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws, etc. all get to trial along with him. If you want into this country, you must meet the requirements.

these are great ideas. Too bad the spineless in Washington won't act on them. Heaven forbid they should upset the people who are in their back pockets. Like DGA said, "No common sense."

I've often referred to this as bipartisan treason.Both big box parties think they have something to gain and that's why they were reluctant to enforce existing law until now. Some..are still reluctant,they don't want to alienate what they view as future party members.They created this catch 22 at our expense...

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"Destiny must be shaped and not left to mere chance."..Spencer Collins

I agree with many of the ideas in dga's posted article and many of faithful servant's.
But instead of banning immigrants or former illegals from welfare, I would do away with welfare altogether-at least in the form it is in today. Phase it out for all but the infirm, orphaned, and widow. As I stated on here elsewhere-not knowing how to read should not be a sole criteria for government assistance. You can have many skills and still be illiterate.
Which leads me to my second point. Make the former welfare moms/teens/former drug addicts etc. WORK.
We will need some worker visas but not nearly as many, and our own mass of lazy butts will earn their keep. If they don't like picking fruit or being a janitor, they can get their G.ED. and move up in society as they were meant to occasionally do.
And of course, congress isn't going to go with my plan either.
When it comes to immigration reform or phasing out pet social programs,
Washington=do-nothings

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Term limits, baby. Give congresscritters two four year terms, just like the President. This way, they only have one term to bribe the electorate with pork projects.

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Our nation has not always lived up to its ideals, yet those ideals have never ceased to guide us. They expose our flaws, and lead us to mend them. We are the beneficiaries of the work of the generations before us and it is each generation's responsibility to continue that work. - Laura Bush

God is a conservative -

Ecclesiastes 10:2--"A wise man's heart inclines him to the right, but a fool's heart to the left."

That doesn't make sense. Because people make bad choices you want to limit their choices. Sorry, You lost me there.

Take away the motivation to use federal pork money to get re-elected. The congresscritters who are the best at bringing home the bacon are the ones who have been there the longest. They are the pork masters. Remove them and put people in office who are only interested in re-election ONE time and you take away thier motivation and opportunity for buying votes with pork.

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Our nation has not always lived up to its ideals, yet those ideals have never ceased to guide us. They expose our flaws, and lead us to mend them. We are the beneficiaries of the work of the generations before us and it is each generation's responsibility to continue that work. - Laura Bush

God is a conservative -

Ecclesiastes 10:2--"A wise man's heart inclines him to the right, but a fool's heart to the left."

You are putting the limitations on the public because of the bad performance of the pols. I see the issue. I just don't agree with the solution.

While I would not be opposed to this approach,we run the danger of throwing the wheat out with the chaff.We need to change the mindset of the American voter. John Adams was justified in his concern regarding the power of party politics.They place their parties interests above the interests of their constituents and then try to bribe them with their own money! The voters see this yet refuse to vote for anyone who does not belong to the big box machine for fear of wasting their vote.Expect "real" change when Americans are willing to vote for a candidate out of principle aside from party affiliation. That kind of change will take decades but it can happen by stepping outside of the partisan trap.Sadly..the two party system is now so well established I see little hope for real change.

Albert Einstein once said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.