Editorial: Debate long overdue

Thursday, Jan. 8, 2004 | 9:07 a.m.

On Wednesday President Bush unveiled a sweeping plan to overhaul U.S. immigration policy. Bush wants Congress to pass legislation that would enable an illegal immigrant to legally work in the United States for at least three years -- as long as it is in a job that a company can't get an American to take. As many as 8 million illegal immigrants could be affected, roughly half of whom come from Mexico.

Bush says decency and common sense dictate that the United States should allow people from other nations to fill jobs that Americans won't take. Of course, if employers paid a decent wage in the first place for some of the jobs that are menial and back-breaking, such as in housecleaning and in construction, Americans would fill them and this wouldn't be an issue. Nevertheless, there are illegal workers in this country and they're often forced to accept low wages and work in horrid conditions. Under Bush's plan, they justifiably would have at least some of the rights other Americans have, including laws mandating a minimum wage and affording safe-working conditions.

The president, who is assiduously courting the Hispanic vote in the upcoming election, wasn't oblivious to the potential political mileage from the decision. Still, it shouldn't obscure the reality that immigration reform is an issue that hasn't been seriously dealt with by Congress for more than a decade now. It's a debate that a nation of immigrants shouldn't shy away from.