I can talk about my views on that issue if you’d like to hear them, although I still insist that they have no bearing on the truth or falsehood of my original claim in this thread.

With that said, I don’t see the issue in terms of perpetrators and punishment. Many, many people in the world are much poorer than even a poor American is, and so their desire to come to the USA by whatever means is available to them is quite reasonable. Employers want to hire labor at the cheapest possible price, which is also reasonable. Finally, the general public wants cheap stuff but does not want either competition for jobs or taxes spent on supporting immigrants. That’s all reasonable too.

I think a well-designed guest-worker program combined with increased measures against illegal immigration would maintain the rule of law, protect national security, and satisfy American employers and the American public while still providing economic opportunities for some foreigners who want them. This sort of approach works in other countries and it used to have some bipartisan support but I don’t see it going anywhere in today’s political climate.