What if companies were penalized lets say $10,000 for each illegal immigrant they currently have employed. Don't you think businesses would then not hire illegal immigrants, hence forcing the illegals to not have any reason to cross the border??

How would you enforce it? Especially if they are already doing it now.

Actually, they already have laws that penalize companies for employing "illegals". I'm not sure all the details, but they're already there.

But it's only when the INS comes around that anybody even gets serious about looking at them.

In addition, how are companies supposed to know if an "illegal" has forged documents and/or identification? I suppose in some cases it's easy, but in others it would be nearly impossible.

It's a tough deal all the way around...

I agree it definitely would be a tough deal all the way around...but if the government is really serious about immigration, they should start sending out fines to many many businesses..to the point where businesses will be too scared to hire an illegal.

No businesses hiring illegals = no reason for illegals to cross the border!

True.
But with forged documents & identifications, you still have the problem of knowing who is, and who is NOT "illegal". I don't know how individual employers, or companies, would do that. Do you?

When they forge documents, what kind of information are they stealing? If they are using made up SS numbers, for example, wouldn't a crosscheck of the database be a fairly simple operation? Furthermore, if they are using someone else's numbers, wouldn't a similar crosscheck be just as simple?
What are the complexities of the forged documents?

Exactly...

So, what do you guys think? I mean come on, if the person hardly speaks English and you hire the guy without doing a background check, clearly the government has every reason to slap a fine on you.

It's not that simple.

One of the MAIN problems is that forged documents and ID are extremely difficult to track - and it takes a LOT of time. You would have to have (basically) private detectives pursuing each and every one of the "illegals".

The money isn't there.
The time isn't there.
The incentive isn't there.

It's a lose/lose situation.

If the government invests in a system where background checks are much simpler..well then this thing could work.

I agree that it COULD work.

But our government tends to take simple things and make them extremely complicated - and they take difficult things and make them impossibly expensive.

I just don't see any positive and helpful resolution to this immigrant problem.