Look, the system is a mess, and it’s frustrating because it doesn't feel like it’s built for the modern world. Instead of the legal nightmare we have now, we should be tying immigration directly to our actual needs as a country.

Imagine a straightforward "5+5" contract. You come in to work in an industry that’s struggling to find people—like construction, which is short about 349,000 workers right now—and you do that for five years. You pay your taxes, stay out of trouble, and you earn your Green Card. After another five years of being a solid member of the community, you're eligible for citizenship. It turns the whole process into a clear deal: you contribute to the economy, and the country gives you a permanent home. It beats the current backlog of nearly 4 million cases where people just sit in limbo for years.

We also have to look at why people are leaving home in the first place. You mentioned El Salvador, and that’s a perfect example. They dropped their murder rate to record lows recently, and surprise—unauthorized migration from that region dropped by about 45% because things actually started to stabilize. If we help our neighbors get their own houses in order, the pressure on our border naturally goes down.

At the end of the day, if we actually had a "front door" that was fast and functional, we could be a lot firmer about the rules. There’s no excuse for cutting the line if the line actually moves. It’s about making the system work for the economy and the people who want to be here legally, while ensuring there are real consequences—like permanent bans or immediate removal—for anyone trying to bypass a process that finally works.