We need good immigrants, not a human rights disgrace at our southern border. When the 118th Congress convenes on Jan. 3, members of the House and Senate will reach a fork in the road.

Bad fork: This choice leads to ignorant pursuits of federally legalized pot, softer-on-crime justice reforms, climate reparations and politically motivated witch hunts that turn congressional committees into kangaroo courts. It’s a road of spike strips Congress should avoid.

Good fork: This choice leads to a full-force, bipartisan, successful effort to maximize America’s economic and cultural potential. The key is immigration reform, to fix a broken system that has undermined us for generations. The time is now. Take this road. Get it done right and let both parties claim victory.

If we continue doing nothing, our future looks bleak.

We enter the winter holidays with inflation rates unseen for the past 40 years. That pertains directly to an economy trying to function with three million fewer workers than in 2020. A worker shortage means lower supplies of goods, services and commodities – which drives up prices.

Meanwhile, as we grapple with a labor shortage and associated price hikes, the population ages and birth rates decline. This threatens long-term shortages of workers, goods, services and commodities. We increasingly have fewer working aged people to support pensions and services for aging baby boomers.

“Workforce shortages are severely impacting America’s economy, notably the leisure and hospitality sector, which is facing historic worker shortfalls. This crisis has contributed to high levels of inflation and restricted economic growth. Americans everywhere are feeling the impacts of these difficulties. To address the extraordinary workforce shortages, Congress and the administration must come together and find bipartisan solutions that include incorporating more immigrants into the American economy,” said Chip Rogers, president and CEO of American Hotel and Lodging Association.

High-quality, hardworking people from Mexico, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Brazil, Paraguay and other regions south of the U.S.-Mexico border hope to live in the United States because they seek the rewards of an economy that needs them.

Immigrants yearning to live and work here include physicians, nurses, scientists and all varieties of skilled workers. Culturally, people south of our border have much in common with average Americans. They want meaningful, honest work that supports the needs of households.

Quite simply, we must replace border chaos with a system that welcomes motivated workers and professionals who will benefit the United States. The same system should grant entry, and a pathway to citizenship, to those who meet our country’s rigorous standards for asylum from persecution. It should grant amnesty and opportunities for citizenship to “dreamers” brought here illegally as infants and young children.

Immigration reform should exclude aspiring immigrants with serious criminal convictions or a lack of developed skills. Our economy thrives when individuals use their unique skills to fulfill the wants and needs of others.

President Joe Biden’s “Inflation Reduction Act” funds the hiring of 87,000 new IRS employees. Wasting the time and energy of working Americans with IRS harassment may raise cash for the government, but it will stifle economic activity. A physician who spends a week cooperating with an IRS audit costs the economy a week of health care she would otherwise provide.

Imagine if we instead hired 87,000 new border agents, immigration judges and immigrant social workers. They could reward skilled, high-character immigrants with orderly access to our country. They could help them find housing and jobs. Stable, productive immigrants would quickly resolve our dearth of labor.

Partisan impasse has reliably prevented this grand opportunity. A November survey of 1,014 voters nationwide found 67% believe a dependable and efficient economy requires fixing immigration to allow foreign workers to boost production. The concept has support from 69% of Democrats, 64% of Republicans and 70% of independents.

Majorities of Democrats, independents and Republicans support increasing the number of work visas and easing pathways to citizenship for immigrants here on Temporary Protective Status.

Beginning Jan. 3, we will have a healthy balance of political power in Congress. It is time to set aside pettiness and get to work on a common goal – one of immigration policies that will end human suffering at the border and liberate our economy for the benefit of all.

Denver Gazette Editorial Board