fossil, i see that just giving 10 million or more people citizenship would not work, there would have to criteria to meet and a framework in place to filter out the real criminals from the rest. it would also have to done in a way that did not attract people to the country knowing there was a big citizenship freebee coming up. It is doable especially if you are looking at doing it just once and then spending 5 years with very tight controls afterwards. It would after a very short time make it harder for the remaining illegals to hide because there would no longer be a large community to absorb them, and they would find it harder to get work as companies are fined to the point of bankruptcy for using them or that the culture among employers for using them no longer exists.

Like I said, you would have to control you borders with troops. This would also make smuggling harder, and if fishermen or yachters complain about stringent controls, well pffff to them. I am thinking that you (as a country) need to get control before progress can be made.