Well, what brought me back after so long was just browsing the net and seeing an old thread I remembered.
And no, still haven't gotten anywhere. We've spoken to several different immigration attorneys, and they ALL strongly advised us to:
1-- Not leave the country under ANY circumstance, because the "10-year-bar on re-entry" is not activated unless you leave.
2-- do not begin any legal paperwork, because unless we find "one hell of an expensive and talented go-getter lawyer", we are likely to lose our case.
3-- Just stay put and wait for some kind of guest-worker-type law to pass. And in my opinion, that is totally do-able. In that case, we could pay the fine and participate, since he's been working here and paying taxes for a while, and staying out of trouble.
Since I married my husband, I have learned A LOT about immigration, and this government, because I had to. And boy was I surprised at what I've learned! According to our lawyers--- like it or not, we CAN'T get all the illegals out of the country. Not even most, or half! If all the illegal immigrants were to suddenly vanish, our entire economy would come crashing to the ground, because we are standing on their shoulders for cheap labor (much more than we realize), and depending on them to do all the dirty, hard jobs WE refuse to do. Think about it-- 90% of all Americans don't want to (and won't) work at a vegetable plant, or a dry cleaners, or a 7-11, or landscaping, or factories, or fast food places the rest of their life.... To Americans, those are "teenager and immigrant" jobs.
Plus, (again, in the lawyer's words) a lot of politicians ARE likely to end up passing such a bill, particularly after elections come. Because we've done it before, and its not like all those pay checks aren't already going to the immigrants. At least this way, all that money won't be going out of the country, in envelopes to their wives and children back home. It will stay here, because they'll be able to have their wives and children here. And because politicians (both for AND against a guest worker program) do acknowledge that WE are to blame for our own immigration problems. Because if we really wanted to, we probably could find most of the illegals. As a matter of fact, we already have! But the embarrassing truth is, we do nothing about it. We do not put forward our best efforts, because we know very well that the US government purposely CHOSE to look the other way in many cases, to save some money. And they don't want to bring too much attention to that fact....
Immigration has been to my husband's place of employment MANY times. They know very well that there are mostly all illegals working there, and they do nothing. Absolutely nothing. And its the same, all over this country. Our government plans to kick them all out, about as much as I plan to saw my own foot off.... The only time the government does anything about it, is when they sense drug or gun smuggling in a certain place, or terrorism being plotted. Then, and ONLY then, do the really step in and do something.
And they know that.
Absorption of illegals is also meant to be a tactic against terrorism. Most "sleeper" terrorists are here on temproary (or work) visas, and don't have much hope at becoming citizens. They came here with the help of wealthy men abroad. And they simply over stay, and then hide. Many (in fact, MOST) terrorists got into that line of work, because they felt that their life on earth was doomed to be forever poverty-stricken, and they had no hope. People who have no hope for a future are easily manipulated into suicide missions. They quickly turn all their attention to "the afterlife" and go full-fledged into religious fanaticism. But by giving them hope for a future in this life-- or at least a chance at one--, many of them (not all but MANY) will re-think their chosen paths.
Personally, I think its a great idea, as far as national security goes. I once saw a documentary of several young men who came to this country with bad intentions, after being brainwashed by a religious leader back home. But after they got here, they liked it. And instead, they decided to become informants for the US government, in exchange for legalization and protection. We could see a lot more such cases... After all, that was the main downfall fall of the Italian mafia-- members taking bribes (legal pardons, money, etc.) from the law to spill the beans about "the family". That tactic DOES work, because humans as individuals can really surprise you with how selfish they can be, when given the chance. Particularly those who were once willing to do a lot worse....