Let Debate Begin

Tired of waiting for the immigration reform bill that Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York promised to introduce by Labor Day but seems to have misplaced, and obviously frustrated by President Barack Obama's foot-dragging, Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., has decided to take matters into his own hands. He says that in the next few weeks he will propose a 10-point plan for comprehensive immigration reform.

Thank goodness. From our vantage point on the U.S.-Mexico border, we've argued for a couple decades now that the immigration system is broken and urgently in need of repair, and that only a comprehensive approach will work. And despite Obama's promises to work for it, it's clear that the president is distracted by other matters and that he doesn't have the same emotional connection to the immigration issue as he does to, say, health care reform.

This is an issue that won't wait. Millions of lives are impacted, and at stake is nothing less than our national reputation as a country of immigrants. At the same time, our borders aren't secure, and they absolutely need to be in the post 9/11 world. We also need a more effective way of welcoming legal immigrants, who remain such an important part of our economy and society. Lastly, we need to drive home once again just how important it is that all immigrants learn English and otherwise assimilate into our society.

Gutierrez seems to understands all that.

At an immigration rally in Washington earlier this month, the Illinois congressman laid out the core principles behind his bill. They include: creating a pathway to legalization for illegal immigrants, ensuring effective border enforcement, allowing for humane interior enforcement, protecting U.S. workers, improving employer verification systems, preserving family unity as a cornerstone of our immigration system, managing future flows of workers, ensuring an agricultural work force with AgJOBS provisions, instituting a DREAM Act to give students a pathway to legalization and promoting the integration of immigrants into society.

We like a lot of this — a pathway to legalization, effective border enforcement, protecting U.S. workers, etc. We have concerns about other aspects, such as anything that undermines workplace raids and puts family unity before more practical concerns.

But this bill is just the beginning of what will be a long conversation in Congress and around the country, and we commend Gutierrez for kicking it off. His willingness to grab hold of this thorny issue shows leadership — something that has at times been in short supply in this discussion. And that's been true at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue.

It's time for an immigration debate that is worthy of the country that so many people immigrate to, one that reinforces the idea that the United States is both a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.

REPRINTED FROM THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE.

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