There's more than one answer
Dallas Morning News : "It's a false choice to think the immigration debate is a battle between America being a welcoming society and being a nation of laws."
That line's so good, we wish we had thought of it ourselves. But credit Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, who used it in an address in Dallas before the annual meeting of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.
His point -- which we hope the vocal minority who are intent on building a wall or deporting all illegal immigrants will consider -- is that the country can both welcome immigrants and secure its borders.
It isn't either-or
The immigration debate gets completely miscast when it's framed as being 1) for more agents and a wall along the border or 2) for offering illegal immigrants a pathway to citizenship and foreign workers a chance to become temporary guest workers.
The House has shut down the debate because that's how some Republicans and their supporters see the choice. They want to secure the border, then come back later -- probably way later -- and deal with the 12 million illegal immigrants who are here.
But, as Gutierrez said, the nation can deal with both parts of the equation. In fact, it must if it's going to solve this problem.