Compromise on immigration reform by granting legal status to illegal immigrants in the US who have no criminal history.

I am proposing the creation of a renewable legal status for illegal immigrants that will allow them to live here legally and work. This is not citizenship, but a path to citizenship. All applicants would have to undergo a criminal background check and be fingerprinted. They could then be issued a Work ID number which would allow their earnings to be taxed. After ten years of paying taxes and commiting no crimes they could then be allowed to naturalize and become citizens. At a time when we face a huge national debt this would create a new flow of tax revenue that would help pay this debt. The reality is we spend a lot of money deporting and trying to keep illegal immigrants out, only to have them return quite easily. We do not have the manpower or resources to keep them out.