On illegal immigration, it appears to me that the GOP house is closer to

what the US voters want, but not close enough. Which is IMO keep them out, tax their earnings, fine the employers big time, raise the minimum wage, pay the illegals the minimum wage to level the hiring playing field for US citizens, let some legally enter for one year periods if necessary jobs are not filled by citizens and give the illegals legal recourse if employers fail to pay them the minimum wage.

popular isn't always right.
Locally, few people support hr4437. The more access a voter has to immigrants, the more likely they are to oppose hr4437.

You have many good ideas in your op...

people think the illegals don't pay taxes. If they work for a legitimate employer and most of them do, the employer is by law required to withhold income taxes no matter what the legal status of the worker and so they do withhold taxes. The illegals are required to file income tax returns even though they are illegal and do not have a legal social security number. They do have a tax payer ID number. The illegals also pay sales tax. They pay social security taxes and medicare tax since it is also a legal requirement of the employer to withhold them and pay them to the government. The only illegals that don't pay taxes on their income are ones who are paid under the table and so to are legal citizens who work for that employer paid under the table. That is the exception rather than the rule. Employers caught not withholding taxes usually end up losing their businesses because of the penalties and interest and taxes incurred when they are caught by the IRS. BTW, the illegals do not get the social security money that is withheld from them nor do they get the portion paid by the employer. That money goes to the rest of us gratuitously.

To a large extent, the only difference between illegal workers and legal ones are the way they got to this country.

Is there a GOV. web page that quantifies this?

I have to have all new employees fill out an I-9 & verify they are authorized to work in the US. There are several different documents that establish employment eligibility, most of them issued through immigration services. Can someone with more experience clarify this?

http://www.uscis.gov/graphics/howdoi/eev.htm

I suspect support for tough bills like the House bill is broad but shallow. If you ask people if we should crack down on illegal immigration, most will say "yes," but then get back to what they're doing.

I wish I could find the DU thread that had an article from USA Today breaking down the positions on immigration. It found about 25% were hard-liners, another 25% thought the immigrants were a net benefit, and about half really didn't give a shit.

Lastly, it sounds to me like your prescription is closer to the Senate bill than the House bill, which offers nothing but fences and felonies.