Since it shouldn't just be OK to come here as you please, I think you need to lead a movement to send every professional ball player back to the country they came from since they virtually all came here illegally.
It has NEVER crippled this country having them here at any point in the past 50 years. If anything, we have been far better off. This is a very strong workforce and the farming industry would be decimated if it was removed. My parents, parents were immigrants. As well as millions of people. So denying access is not what this country was founded on.
Do you actually think all those undocumented workers don't pay taxes? The farmers take taxes out of all their pay. They don't get paid cash under the table. EVER. Do you think when they walk into Walmart and buy all those items they need to live, they don't have to pay taxes? Or the gas that runs their cars is tax free?
And you're right. It shouldn't be free to all. It shouldn't be that we get this hard working immigrant who gets taxed out of his pay, who contributes back to the economy by buying products and living in cheap squaller and then want to deny them any of the benefits that the rest of us get. Are there abuses? Of course. There is abuses throughout every part of gov't. That doesn't mean you strip it away. I would be more inclined to have an open border with Mexico, because it would probably mean a better country, more people wanting to stay and prosper, and millions of Americans wanting to invest and live there. It's a beautiful place that has many areas undeveloped.
It's easy to just say, send them all back. TAHT is what would cripple this country in ways that would be epic. And it would trickle down the food chain, as it were, and lead to incredible inflation that has never been seen before. Trust me, there is no one else that is willing to do what a farm laborer will do for the amount they are willing to do it for.
I have no problem giving them all work visas and/or citizenship......
I think your comparison to ball players coming from Cuba or wherever else is way off base and the connection between the 2 are not even in the same ball park for that matter. I have no problem with them coming here as skilled workers. Do they earn a ludicrous wage? Sure, but that is not for me to decide or dictate what they earn. Good for them I say.
A pitcher/hitter/whatever coming from Cuba is coming in as a skilled worker. Like it or not, or as unfair as you may think it is, they are classified as skilled workers. Someone picking lettuce or tomatoes on a farm is not classified as a skilled worker. Much like in the UK, if you want a work visa, you have to demonstrate that you have a unique skill set and can perform the role better, or that you can perform a role people in the UK already can't do. I.E. show that you have something to offer the country not already available. Regardless of if people are willing to do it or not, it is already available.
Pitching or hitting a baseball professionally is definitely a unique, rare, and extraordinary skill set that 99% of the population can not do. So the professions looking to employ these positions are of course going to pay out of country talent to fill their roles if need be. If you can pitch 105mph, that is an extraordinary skill set that not many other people can offer.
Also, I don't believe looking at the past is a good way to predict the future in all cases. You say that in the last 50 years it hasn't crippled the country. Ok, fair enough, maybe it hasn't. But to say that is a constant that will remain, I can assure you is not how it works.
Again I will draw the comparison to the UK. The UK has an immigration problem. They've just recently voted for Brexit, as I am sure you know, and the main problem people had with being in the EU and wanting out is the immigration problem. Being in the EU, people can flood to any country they want so long as their country is also in the EU. Pretty much like open borders, which is what you suggest, which is absolutely laughable. Anyway, the UK hasn't been crippled yet maybe, but I can say without little doubt that the NHS is more than on its way to being crippled. The NHS is the free for all healthcare system in place in the UK. Everyone is entitled to free healthcare via the NHS. When you work in the UK, part of your paycheck goes towards NHS. Well here is the problem, many immigrants come to the UK, get healthcare, and pay nothing into the system. They flood into the country, use the NHS, and collect benefits. All without paying into the system. Yes, this will eventually cripple the system, and the NHS is headed in that direction big time. I have seen first hand the astonishing waste, mismanagement, and complete fuckery the NHS has become. Obviously all the problems aren't a direct result of immigration but I can tell you that it is definitely a major contributing factor.
Everyone who is an American has ancestors who were immigrants at some point. I am not saying nobody should be let in. You are right, the country was founded on immigrants. But this isn't 100+ years ago. This is 2017 nearly. If you want to come here, you should have to do it legally. Otherwise, why have laws at all? It is pretty simple. I have nothing against anyone who wants to move out of a bad situation and come to America to try and make a better life for themselves or their family. But, you have to do it legally. You can not just sneak in and not play by the same rules as everyone else.
And you also make out like these illegals are jolly do gooders who just earn their wage and spend it in town at the local convenient stores and supermarket. I am pretty sure that a lot of money gets sent back across the border. I know a lot of times maybe just a father will come here illegally, work and earn money, live in "squaller" and send most of his wage back home to his family. That isn't supporting the system at all. I am sure that is not the case with all, just as I am sure that them spending their wages in America on items back into the system is not the case with all of them.
You really can't say what would happen if a "deport them all" scenario happened. Not that it would, and I don't think anyone is calling for that, but I am sure things would correct themselves. Maybe farmers would have to pay a bit extra for their help? Anyway, we are talking fantasy here because that isn't a scenario anyone is calling for.
You can't go back and retroactively fix a huge mess. I agree with Cie that all illegal criminals should get bounced straight back to wherever they came from no questions asked. I also believe that much more strict border enforcement should be implemented and if you want to come here, you get in line and do it legally through the correct process.