If you want to hear Americans at their ugliest, just mention the words “immigration reform.” Talk about a firestorm. The issue brings out everyone from the hate groups – the Minuteman Project and their ilk – who swaddle xenophobia in concern for homeland security, to the people who think “immigration reform” and “cheap labor” are synonymous, to more left-leaning groups that say immigration issues are best addressed by concentrating on the problems that cause immigrants to leave their countries of origin. Amid all that shouting, red herrings are perpetuated as truth. Take, for example, the number of times it has been repeated that immigrants are “stealing” jobs from Americans. It’s true that immigrants are filling jobs created in the U.S. economy, but a more informed truth is that with only 12 percent of the U.S. workforce having less than a high school diploma, Americans aren’t much interested in filling those low-skill positions. Without the availability of work visas to fill those jobs, foreign nationals have no choice but to come to the United States without proper documentation.

The business community needs to do a better job of articulating its concerns and, in doing so, remove some of the emotion from the debate about an issue that is critical to both economic and population growth. The issue is especially important in Iowa, where the worker shortage by 2010 is estimated at 300,000. As Iowa continues to gray and younger residents leave the state for more urban areas, attracting more immigrants to the state is part of the response to that frightening projection.

The legislation resulting from the immigration debate in Congress should be multipronged. It should provide a legal way for foreign nationals to come legally to the United States through the front door and grant amnesty to undocumented workers already here. It should also address long-held values that America is a place of opportunity for those who have been oppressed, whether politically or economically.