It's common sense, which happens to be one of those things in short supply in the immigration debate: To fully understand the immigration issue, it helps to live in a part of the country heavily impacted by immigration.

There was a time in American history when that meant the Northeast. Today, it means the West and Southwest. So it's not surprising to find some old-fashioned common sense about immigration in a poll of voters in six Western states — Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Wyoming.

Commissioned jointly by three newspapers - the Las Vegas Review-Journal, The Denver Post and The Salt Lake Tribune — the survey found that voters have mixed but strong feelings about the issue. Unlike many of the louder and shriller voices in the debate, on both the right and the left, the poll respondents didn't fall for the idea that nothing can be done, or that there are simple solutions. Their views were both principled and practical, and they came at the issue from the sensible center.

The survey respondents supported two goals that some would consider contradictory when, in truth, they're actually complementary: securing the border to curb additional illegal immigration from Mexico, while also giving illegal immigrants already in the country a chance to become legal if they meet certain conditions.

Seventy-one percent of Western voters supported efforts to complete border fencing and penalize employers who hire illegal immigrants. Fifty-three percent favored giving illegal immigrants a shot at legalization if they're willing to work for it. Only 38 percent favored deportation as the preferred approach.

That wasn't so hard. Americans are a reasonable and fair people. They want to know that their voices are being heard, and that lawmakers are addressing their concerns about excessive immigration and a porous border. At the same time, they also recognize that illegal immigrants make a positive contribution to the U.S. economy by working hard at jobs Americans won't do. And they'd like to find a way for some of them to stay.

Members of Congress should take note. They could learn a lesson from this survey and others like it. These findings are consistent with those of earlier surveys. In Washington, the immigration debate has become a volleyball game in which both sides exploit the problem to drum up popular support rather than come up with solutions.

Part of the reason is that no one in Washington has the appetite to tackle such an intractable issue. The conventional wisdom in the nation's capital is that, no matter who is elected president, nothing will happen on immigration reform until after the midterm elections of 2010.

That would be flatly unacceptable, especially when the American people are pointing the way to a compromise — if only their leaders could find the courage to follow.

REPRINTED FROM THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE.

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