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Immigrants around the mouth of the Columbia River and their employers are expressing increasing anxiety about Trump administration rhetoric on deportations. Its important to place these worries in context, separating truth from myth as the nation feels its way forward toward a new equilibrium on this most fraught of issues.

Some Northwest coastal industries are more reliant than others on immigrant workers. But its fair to say first-generation Americans documented and undocumented are widely dispersed within our economy. Agriculture, shellfish and the hospitality sector particularly depend on hardworking immigrants. In some instances, these jobs pay considerably better than minimum wage, but have undesirable hours or working conditions that dont appeal to native-born Americans with wider options.

While there are few indications that last Thursdays A Day Without Immigrants jobs walk-off resulted in serious business disruptions in the Columbia-Pacific counties, theres no doubt that permanent removal of these workers and their families would have serious negative impacts.

Is there reason to be concerned about such a disruption?

Rumors to the contrary, there has so far been little match between the intensity of President Donald Trumps anti-immigrant language and on-the-ground actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. For example, in the week of Feb. 5-11, ICE says it arrested 680 individuals in targeted enforcement operations. None of these publicized arrests occurred in Oregon, Washington state or elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest. (There may have been other minor arrests here that ICE doesnt consider to be a community arrest, the kind of large-scale bust that creates a corresponding level of hard feelings.)

The 680 number is remarkably consistent with the number of such arrests made in President Barack Obamas first year in office 675 a week. However, Trumps order targets even those who violated a misdemeanor law against crossing the border illegally, while Obama focused on immigrants convicted of serious crimes, those considered threats to national security, and recent arrivals.

Its possible to believe the U.S. should regulate who comes in and stays here, and yet also believe it would be inhumane and economically self-sabotaging to kick out productive immigrants who hold down jobs and raise kids here. Pragmatically, low-population counties like ours lack the excess workforce to fill the vacancies that would be created by wholesale deportations. Even with its undocumented immigrants, Clatsop County has close to full employment.

There has to be a middle course.

Level-headed Republican and Democratic U.S. senators developed such a compromise years ago a path to normalization for immigrants committed to decent, long-term lives here. Its time for the nations business leaders to press our businessman president to recognize the reality of this situation. We must find ways to address labor needs while making sure we know and control who enters the country.

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Immigration reform remains necessary - Daily Astorian