The discourse around our immigrant community has been distasteful and downright embarrassing. Yes, we are nation of laws but we are also a nation of caring and compassionate individuals that have been raised to love thy neighbor and to care for others. While this year’s political stage has been part circus, part reality show, it is past time to have an honest conversation about real immigration reform.

The Colorado Business Roundtable has been very consistent with what a responsible immigration reform platform should look like – improving security and enforcing immigration laws, welcoming legal immigrant workers to contribute to the American economy, and finding a solution for undocumented immigrants. Reforming our broken outdated visa system and a responsible pathway to a legal status are critical components to creating real reform.

When analyzing our failure to create a workable solution to illegal immigration, frankly there is plenty of blame to go around. This issue doesn’t rest on one person or party’s shoulders but is borne by every member of Congress and the president. Have our nation’s leaders completely lost all ability to solve problems? While it may not come as a big surprise to many that my immigration views align with Republican legislators like U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner and U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, what may shock some folks is U.S. Rep. Jared Polis and I can find agreement on virtually every tenant of reform as well. It is baffling that congress in this time of hyperpartisanship can find agreement on over ninety percent and leadership cannot find a path forward, because I believe the votes are there. That lies squarely at the feet of leadership.

In August, the Partnership for a New American Economy launched the Reason for Reform campaign. They called on all those affected by our broken immigration system – from farmers to tech leaders, students to faith communities – to join the national effort by going online to www.reasonforreform.org and telling Congress why we need immigration reform now more than ever.

Coinciding with the launch of the campaign, NAE marked Aug. 3 as a National Day of Action, holding over 60 events in all 50 states to call attention to the need for immigration reform. It also released 51 comprehensive economic reports detailing how immigrants are contributing in every state, along with Washington, DC. Visit www.renewoureconomy.org/reports/ to find out how immigrants are contributing in Colorado and other states around the country.

The Colorado Business Roundtable hosted business leaders from around Colorado to learn about how immigrants are contributing in our state. Polis discussed several of the report’s findings along with some economic data that paint a very different picture than many pundits and skeptics would want you to believe. Polis understands the economic impact immigrants contribute to our local communities.

Colorado is home to over half a million immigrants. Between 2010 and 2014, Colorado’s immigrant population grew by 8.6 percent, while the U.S. immigrant population grew by only 5.8 percent. Immigrants tend to be an entrepreneurial group. As business creation has declined in the United States in recent years, the Kauffman Foundation found that immigrants were almost twice as likely to start a new business as their native-born counterparts. In Colorado, over 32,000 immigrants are self-employed. Their businesses provided jobs for nearly 84,000 Colorado residents. Immigrants make up 11 percent of the state’s entrepreneurs. In fact, one-third – three out of nine – of the Colorado-based Fortune 500 firms were founded by immigrants or their children. Today, these firms generate over $20 billion in annual business revenue and employ 53,000 people globally.

This election cycle has generated a lot of negative rhetoric about immigrants, when in fact immigrants should be recognized as economic assets to state and local communities. While other advanced economies around the world grapple with aging populations, the United States continues to remain a magnet for young, hard-working individuals from around the world. In Colorado, immigrants are vital to keeping many of the state’s most important industries running. More than 73 percent of immigrants in Colorado are working-aged (25-64), compared to only 52 percent of the native-born population. In the state’s agriculture industry, immigrants comprise 18 percent of all workers. They also comprise nearly one-third, or 32 percent, of all miscellaneous workers, an occupation that includes animal breeders and those who handpick crops in the field.

One of the other misconceptions is immigrants do not pay taxes and are a drain on communities. In 2014, immigrants paid one billion dollars in state and local taxes and 2.3 billion in federal taxes. In addition to the above, immigrants also paid $378.4 million to Medicare and $1.5 billion to Social Security.

Another fallacy is that immigrants come to America to take advantage of our social safety net and benefits while not working. Immigrants made up 10 percent of the Colorado population in 2014, yet they comprised 12 percent of the workforce. The workforce participation rate of immigrants is higher than that of Americans. In 2014, immigrants in the state were 25.5 percent more likely to be actively employed than the state’s native-born residents.

We have several key industries, including agriculture and technology, which currently face serious labor shortages. These shortages prevent business growth and stunt productivity. Meanwhile, qualified immigrants are readily available to step in to fill these workforce gaps, yet our current system makes it increasingly difficult. Furthermore, every year the United States educates thousands of bright and talented students from all over the world only to leave them with few options to join the U.S. workforce after graduation-forcing many to immediately return to their home countries. Our immigration system needs to be revised to better reflect and respond to market realities. The demand spikes when looking at STEM-related jobs where companies are facing serious shortages.

Immigration is just one of a myriad of challenges facing our nation, but it’s one that can be fixed with real leadership. Reforming our tax system, fixing our crippling national debt, trade and regulatory reforms all need to be addressed. Ignoring these issues or continuing to kick them down to the road astonishingly hasn’t created a magic panacea. The age-old adage of how you eat an elephant – one bite at a time – certainly is applicable. We need to hold our legislators accountable and demand real results.