Why do they "deserve" it?  Laws get created to keep the US a safe place for the American citizen to work and live.  At this point, many of these folks just took the easy road to not take the proper steps to become a legal citizen.  The unfortunate thing about this is that many of these people took for granted their actual citizenship.  You could say they didn't break laws, they're not bad people, etc. but how do you look at the hundreds of thousands of illegals and decide which to let stay and which to send back?  The government is already trillions in debt and supporting these people in one way or another.  Why should we the taxpayer take on that burden?  Should these illegals have the same rights as the American citizen?  I have compassion for these families as they will be the ones to suffer but it I also believe in the laws that we live by.  There's no good answer but to send them back and they can work to get back to their family legally.