Question: "I live in California and I am literally watching my state being over run with (illegal) immigrants from Mexico. I simultaneously enjoy seeing my state government siphon more money from my salary to help pay for services directed at eventually "purchasing" the future votes of these same illegal immigrants. I know Thompson has said that the Federal Govt. has the responsibility to secure our nations borders. I've heard the same from our current president, to little effect. I want to know, specifically, what will Thompson do to stop the illegal flood and encourage these people to deport themselves?" -- robdavidsonb

Answer: First of all, finally, I think that a rough consensus has finally developed in the GOP that we are going to have to pursue a security first approach to illegal immigration. Even people like McCain, Lindsey Graham, Rudy, and Mitt are saying that now.

As to Thompson, his record on illegal immigration was so-so when he was in the Senate, but it's worth noting that it really wasn't a hot issue back then. Now, he's taking a hard core, security first approach, and I think if he were elected, that's exactly what he would do and the party would support it.

As we built the fence, as we increase the number of border patrol agents, and MOST IMPORTANTLY, as we crack down on businesses that hire illegals, we will see the number of illegals in this country plunge because of self-deportation.

Now eventually, will we end up with some sort of amnesty and/or new guest worker program down the road? That's hard to say, but my gut instinct is that we will.

Once immigration enforcement gets solid and the number of illegals in this country plunges to a low enough level (and we're probably 3-5 years from this point at least), I think some sort of deal will probably be struck -- but, we'll see.

The important thing to focus on is a security first approach to illegal immigration. Once we have a functional system and secure borders, then we can worry about what comes next.