This week’s Republican debate was a good one, but as usual it produced the typical rounds of harrumphing among media critics who disagree with conservative principles on any number of policy points. One of the more bitterly argued ones this week has been the reemergence of Donald Trump’s various plans for doing something about the illegal immigrant problem which has been engulfing the nation for far too long. Chief in point during this round as been, yet again, Trump’s plan to deport illegal immigrants in large numbers and build a wall to staunch the flow into the country.

Some in the media, such as Time, want to perform a scholarly, surgical exploration of Eisenhower’s plans which took place in a long gone era. Others, like the Washington Post, began screeching, Mr. Trump praises a grotesquely inhumane immigration plan from the 1950s. Perhaps even worse, I’m seeing Republicans and conservatives, including some of Trump’s opponents, jumping on the same bandwagon and singing the same pitiful songs as the press.

I’ve got some bad news for you, sunshine. There’s nobody else on the Republican debate stage who’s come up with anything “realistic” that looks any better and most of them sound far more like Democrat surrender advocates than conservatives. Personally, I’ve grown tired of the disingenuous cable news coverage and the barely concealed scorn (or worse, damnation by faint praise) coming from many of our other candidates.

Here’s the main point I’d like to put forward to all of these critics today: if you don’t like what Trump is proposing, come up with something better. I’ve yet to hear it from any of you. Personally, I don’t know how practical all of Trump’s plans are, what they will cost or even if they could be done at all… but at least he’s willing to try. And when you stop and consider some of the core elements of his proposals, it becomes more and more likely that we could actually accomplish something if we got up off our collective backsides and got to work.

There are three key elements to dealing with this issue and none of them are actually impossible. They are, as follows:

• Stop the flow of illegals into the country
• Remove as many of the illegals currently in the country as possible and get the states in line to assist in this effort
• Remove the incentive for the rest of them to stay or even to come here in the first place

The first item is the one Trump is most famous for. Build a wall. Does he have the magic bullet for getting this done in a rapid, cost effective manner? I have no idea. But he is correct in saying that we have secured small sections of the border and there’s no reason not to explore every option being put on the table, adopting what works and jettisoning the rest. Trump wants a Big Beautiful Wall. Fine by me. Show us how and what it will cost. But don’t stop there. I’m willing to listen to anyone who wants to put forth a plan. You want to build a moat in front of the wall? I’m all ears. You want to put sharks in the moat with lasers? I’m ready to give you a seat at the table. I have no idea if there’s currently anyone working on breeding fresh water sharks or developing neural nets that would make the lasers work underwater, but hey… if there’s somebody out there on the verge of a huge biological breakthrough, let us know. All joking aside, we can build barriers. Mankind has been doing it since we domesticated the first goat. Stop stalling and get a plan together.

As far as removing the illegals goes, no… we’re not going to be able to pack them all on buses and get them to their countries of origin in a coupe of years. But does that mean that we don’t even start on the project? It’s going to require resources, but every law enforcement effort takes money and manpower. Before you go whining about Trump’s plan, let us know what yours is. What’s that? You don’t have one because the project looks to difficult? Then, to borrow a phrase from someone more famous than I, sit down and shut up. You’re not contributing to a solution so you’re part of the problem.

The second half of that bullet point is even more important. Illegal aliens are criminals until some point if and when the nation collectively decides that we don’t need borders and changes the laws. Shut off all funding to the so called “sanctuary cities” and states who are fighting against a solution rather than doing their jobs. Take all of that money that was going to go to California and give it to Texas and Arizona to hire more border patrol enforcement. Give some to the guy building the wall. Send some to the lady implanting laser guns on those new sharks. Just do something productive with the cash. When California and the rest of them get in line and start holding and deporting illegal alien felons we’ll consider reinstating your funding. Until then… sit down and shut up.

And finally, the biggest point of all is the removal of incentives for illegal activity. Trump has been on this subject as well, but there’s a lot more that can be done. First and foremost, take away the jobs for illegals. But you’re not going to solve this puzzle by going after the illegal immigrant standing around in the parking lot of Home Depot or the guy working in the kitchen in the Manhattan restaurant. Make sure that E-Verify is up and running and available for every employer and let them know that the clock is ticking. Once everything is in place, start going after the businesses who hire illegal workers and I mean go after them at the top. Let me assure you all of one thing on this score:

The very first time that a top executive from a major home improvement chain or a world class restaurateur in Manhattan is standing in front of a judge in an orange jump suit and leg irons getting sentenced to ten years in federal prison, the illegal immigration problem in this country will shrink by a massive amount virtually overnight.

While you’re at it, go arrest Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and toss her in the next cell over from those last two guys because the DNC hired an illegal alien and bragged about it. Make examples of them all and you can rest assured that there will be no jobs for illegals. After you accomplish that rather modest feat, get to work cutting off other benefits rather than handing them out like candy to criminals. No drivers licenses. No food stamps. No free medical care. Nothing. You won’t need to ask Donald Trump how he’s going to pay for all of those buses because people won’t stick around if there’s no incentive to do so. And once the word gets round that the good times have come to a halt, few will bother to try jumping the border after that except for hard core, drug trade gang bangers. That’s a separate problem we’ll deal with elsewhere.

Okay… rant over. (Mostly) None of these problems are actually insurmountable if we actually have the will to address them. Everything I just listed could be done sooner or later. Sure, it might take a long time and cost a lot of money to build the wall. But the one thing I can guarantee is that it’s never going to get done if you never start.

Rather than complaining about and attacking Trump because you don’t like his ideas, impress us by coming up with something better. And then actually do it. If you do that you just may have our support.