That may sound like a lot, but 300,000 slipped through without being caught. That means that over 40 percent of the people that try to get into this country illegally, succeeded. If we get more agents on guard by our borders we could cut that number to a tolerable level. Some immigrants that come to this country legally that have a good education and can work well are not a problem. The problem is that there aren't very many of these kind of people that are trying to get into this country.
Many immigrants are poor and just want jobs to keep themselves alive or to support there family.
It is hard for illegal immigrants who can't prove that they are legal workers to find jobs. Some employers know from the start that the person they hired is illegal and just hire them because they will work for minimum wage or even less. To try to get voluntary compliance to not hire illegals, the INS contacted 800,000 employers and gave warnings to only 2,200 of these employers.