The United States has been debating immigration for centuries. Unfortunately, too often the issue is discussed in such a way that it sounds as if we’ve forgotten we are talking about human beings.

Our nation needs secure borders and reasonable policies about who can come into our country and under what circumstances. This is just one of many issues Republicans failed to address during their 12 years of majority rule in Congress. In this election campaign, as in Congress, we need to talk about real solutions, not impractical schemes designed to frighten and divide people.

There are currently about 12 million immigrants residing in the United States illegally. If nothing changes, this number will increase by 500,000 per year. Clearly, with these kinds of numbers, we need comprehensive reform, not piecemeal measures like walls and fences – which our nation used to be known for tearing down, not building up. We cannot round up and send home millions of people. And men and women who come to the U.S. for minimum-wage jobs will not be able to pay thousands of dollars in penalties or fees to stay.

But total amnesty is not the solution. Part of this debate is, rightly, about what should happen when people break the law while others wait in line for their turn.

To make progress on illegal immigration, we need to:

• Work with neighboring nations on root causes. Exceptional opportunities in another country – or intolerable conditions at home – drive people to leave their families, risk arrest and go where they know no one and have nothing. We must help eliminate intolerable situations in neighboring nations.
• Crack down on American companies that exploit undocumented workers. The law should be applied equally to all – to employers and workers alike. American workers are denied the opportunity to earn fair wages because businesses illegally hire undocumented immigrants who will work for much less.
• Strengthen border security. There is no substitute for preventing illegal immigration before it happens. High quality, high-tech options have become available to us in recent years.
• Seek solutions that are both humane and workable. The Statue of Liberty says it all: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." Traditional U.S. immigration policy values the unification of families, the admission of immigrants with needed skills, the protection of refugees, and the diversity of admissions by country of origin. It’s not this foundation that’s the problem; it’s our system of enforcement that’s broken,

I'm not satisfied with symbolic gestures or solutions that address only parts of the problem. I'll push for comprehensive reform.