Stay on task; reform immigration policy

By The Gazette Editorial Board

As if the debate over sensible immigration reform wasn't already tough and muddled enough, some Republicans in Congress want to explore changing the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The post-Civil War reconstruction amendment starts with this line - “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” It was intended to grant citizenship to freed slaves, and to prohibit states from denying rights enumerated by the U.S. Constitution. And it has been long interpreted to mean that if you're born in America, you are an American.

The idea of individual equality that flows from that simple concept is at the core of our national identity.

But that concept has become a political lightning rod in the debate over illegal immigration. Some argue that outsiders are entering the country for the purpose of giving birth to an American citizen. They want to deny citizenship to children born to parents who entered the country illegally.

Since the debate flared earlier this month, cooler heads have prevailed on both sides of the political aisle. The drive to change the 14th amendment has slowed amid criticism.

That's welcome, because this misguided debate has only served to once against distract us and our leaders from the necessary, overdue work of crafting comprehensive immigration reform.

It's been 14 years since Congress last passed significant immigration legislation. Since then, the problem has become more severe, more pressing. Unfortunately, the intervening years have also witnessed a sharp polarization of our politics and erosion of a sensible center that might have crafted reform.

Illegal immigration critics on the right refuse to acknowledge the reality that sweeping all undocumented immigrants from the county is an impossible objective that ignores the significant economic contribution they make to the nation.

On the left, too many immigrant advocates refuse to acknowledge the real frustrations and anxieties that have fueled cries for a crackdown in Arizona and elsewhere. The federal government's inability to deal with the problem has left states and their citizens to take immigration enforcement into their own hands.

Reform, that both acknowledges economic realities and enforcement anxieties, is needed now. Fighting over a 19th century constitutional amendment is not helping the cause.

President Obama recently signed legislation spending $600 million more on border patrol agents, facilities and unmanned surveillance drones. It was a good, bipartisan effort. But it's not enough.

Iowans expect Congress to address this issue. Enough with the sideshows. It's time for the main event.