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Editorial: Immigration a key campaign issue

August 29, 2008

Immigration is a word that was seldom heard in Denver this week, as Democrats geared up for their run to Election Day. It was a curious omission.

There are plenty of big issues awaiting the next president: The economy, war, energy, climate change, health care and education have all commanded attention. But immigration needs to be on that list. Borders remain porous. About 12 million people are in the country illegally. Communities on Long Island and elsewhere are struggling with the problem of day laborers who gather on street corners in search of work. The nation's immigration system is broken.

Illegal immigration has roiled the nation and tied Washington in knots. Deaths in detention and aggressive workplace raids - hundreds of people were detained Monday at a factory in Laurel, Miss. - have kept the issue bubbling. And it's of particular interest to Hispanics, a key voting bloc up for grabs in November.

A comprehensive approach has to be found, one that would fortify borders, streamline the naturalization process and provide enough legal temporary workers to meet the needs of employers, such as those on Long Island's East End. And it should lay out a path to citizenship for the millions of undocumented immigrants already in the country. That's just too many people to realistically detain or deport.

Republicans have an opportunity to showcase their views on immigration at their convention next week in Minnesota. It won't be easy to balance the interests of the party's conservative base, which doesn't much like the idea of a route to citizenship, with those of Hispanic voters, many of whom favor a path out of the shadows for the undocumented.

That's an uncomfortable straddle for presumptive Republican nominee John McCain. As a senator, he championed a path to citizenship, an approach that Democratic nominee Barack Obama embraced, but that most of McCain's Republican colleagues rejected. Campaigns are the time for candidates to forge a mandate for action on tough issues. It's an opportunity that shouldn't be missed on immigration.