The broader crisis: Ineffective immigration policies impact everyone

There always seems to be a perfectly good reason for not fixing our nation's broken immigration system. Too often, however, such reasons revolve around politics and what might sway the next election and the balance of power in Washington.

In the interim, taxpayers bear the ever-increasing burden of a system that does not promote safety, family, education or the broader economy - four issues on which politicians regularly dance.

PATCHWORK OF REFORM

Although the U.S. Senate passed a fairly decent comprehensive immigration reform package last year, providing more funds for border security and a path to citizenship for some undocumented people already in the country, House leaders have adamantly refused to review and consider the bill.

It was in the wake of the refusal that President Barack Obama promised changes, by executive order if necessary, and then later backtracked on the promise. The nation wasn't ready, he said, noting the action was being delayed until after the midterm elections.

Last week the Pew Research Center reported that 62 percent of undocumented people in the U.S. have been in the country for more than a decade, and 21 percent have been in the U.S. for more than two decades. Such news begs the question of when Washington politicians think the nation will be ready to consider the fate of these people, and take a closer look at what decades of ugly and inefficient policies has produced.

Of the estimated 10.4 million undocumented people in the U.S., according to Pew, about 4 million have U.S.-born children.

Obviously, the complexity of the issue isn't lessening.

And, instead of responding to the immediate immigration crisis on the southern border, lawmakers chose to leave town on summer recess. There are, we're sure, fundraisers that could not be missed.

For at least the past 15 years, inaction on immigration has become a symbol of a hyperpartisan, do-nothing Congress in which the lunatics have been handed the keys to the asylum. Guess who is getting the bills.

EXECUTIVE ACTION UNWISE

Many Republicans in the U.S. House would support negotiated reform measures - just like Republicans in the Senate have already done - but in the misguided name of party unity, leadership gave its hard-liners a veto on any bill that offers pathways to citizenship for those already in the country.

The situation is frustrating, even from our view over the Iowa cornfields. We can only imagine how exasperating it must be for those working in the Beltway - or those snared within complex immigration realities.

The minority is being allowed to block a national consensus for change that includes pathways and tough enforcement, and one pen stroke won't be enough to permanently alter the situation or the law. Just ask Iowans previously convicted of felons how their on again, off again voting rights are doing.

We hope Obama reneges on this promise and forces federal lawmakers to take personal responsibility for their inaction.

No President, in our opinion, should use such sweeping power without the assent of Congress - even when the majority of Americans agree with the outcome.

NOT SO DIVISIVE

While those who oppose comprehensive reform have undoubtedly been the most vocal, poll after poll has shown that most Americans desire a new system that simultaneously sets a path forward for those already inside the country and includes strict border security for the future.

In February, a Gallup poll found slightly more Americans believe that dealing with unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S. is more important than securing the nation's borders. This is a significant shift from just three years ago, when border security led by 10 percentage points.

That same month respondents to a poll by CNN/ORC International said the first priority on immigration should be providing a pathway forward for those in the country illegally.

A January poll by Fox News noted that more than two-thirds of Americans support a pathway to citizenship for immigrants who pay back taxes and pass background checks.

A CBS News poll, also conducted in January, found that 54 percent of Americans believe unauthorized immigrants should be allowed to become citizens.

Finally, a February collaboration by Democratic polling firm Global Strategy Group and Republican firm Basswood Research found that more than three-quarters of all Americans want immigration reform and will be disappointed if Congress fails to act.

ECONOMIC BOOST

Passage of comprehensive reform - laws similar to the previous U.S. Senate bill, which would strengthen national security, hold employers accountable and offer citizenship and guest worker pathways - would 'boost economic output,” according to analysis by the Congressional Budget Office and Joint Committee on Taxation.

According to the agencies, the proposed Senate bill would have:

' Increased the size of the labor force and employment,

' Increased average wages in 2025 and later years (but decrease them initially, especially for low-wage workers),

' Slightly raised the unemployment rate through 2020,

' Boosted the amount of capital investment,

' Raised the productivity of labor and of capital, and

' Resulted in higher interest rates.

An exact accounting of how reform would impact the economy cannot be done until specific provisions are decided. For instance, a greater economic impact would be derived from a bill that required payment of back taxes as part of a pathway to citizenship. The Senate bill would have increased government spending by $262 billion, but also increased revenue by $459 billion, according to the agencies.

In nearly every explored scenario, however, the U.S. economy becomes ultimately stronger when immigrants are allowed to legally participate in the workforce.

SEVERED CONNECTIONS

While economics alone should be enough to make most politicians take notice, there is also the heart-wrenching aspects of the current system.

The White House has said that delaying executive action until after the election means that roughly 60,000 more people will be deported. Whether those deportations amount to removals or returns - that is, a criminal record or a simple ticket home - has not been detailed, but the vast majority of people deported since the final two years of the Bush administration have an attached criminal record.

If caught entering the U.S. again, immigrants with a legal record are treated in the same vein as people who were previously found guilty of violent crimes. And while the federal government once worked with local agencies to receive biometrics on every person booked into jails, technology now makes such identifications available in the field - no direct suspicion of wrongdoing required.

Congress has mandated the Department of Homeland Security maintain 34,000 detainee prison beds per day. Whether or not the detention cells are being utilized, taxpayers are on the hook for 34,000 daily, most in private prison facilities. Although the White House has requested more cost efficient methods be allowed, Congress has refused to reduce the quota.

The situation - shifting from simple returns to formal legal removals, use of private prisons, lumping those with prior legal removal alongside calls for criminal apprehension - has resulted in a staggering increase in taxpayer expense.

In 2001, for instance, DHS maintained roughly 20,000 detention beds, most of those in state-operated centers. In that same year, about 1.25 million people were apprehended at the southwest border where most detention centers, private and public, are located. In 2012, there were less than 360,000 apprehended there.

Each day that Congress fails to act, more families are torn asunder and cash-strapped community and faith groups scramble to pick up the pieces. As more families are broken, more pressure is placed on the White House to act alone.

IOWA LANDSCAPE

It is estimated between 55,000 and 85,000 undocumented immigrants live in Iowa.

' 48 percent are adult men

' 38 percent are adult women

' 14 percent are children

' 90 percent of undocumented men are in the workforce

' 50 percent of undocumented women are in the workforce

' An average undocumented worker earns an estimated $19,293 per year

' Qualify for few services at the state level

' In FY 2004, undocumented workers were estimated to have contributed between $45.5 and $70.9 million in taxes, or roughly $832 per person

Source: Legislative Services Agency