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The debate over immigration reform is complex.

It can be argued as an issue of economics, but even more deeply than economics is the psychology of immigration reform what do Americans want for their families and their country.

So said U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-12th Congressional District) at a forum on immigration reform, sponsored by the Peacemaking Committee of the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville Sunday afternoon.

Americans may say they want to have a multicultural society, but they do not want competition for jobs for themselves or their children, Rep. Holt said. They may also say that the United States is a nation of immigrants.

But they also bristle at the foreign language being spoken in the next aisle at the grocery store. They say, We cant afford (immigration) anymore. That was back then, the congressman said.

Immigration policy in the United States historically has gone through waves fear of the other, fear of losing jobs, fear of the dilution of our culture and fear for our security, Rep. Holt said. It did not matter whether the immigrants were the Italians, the Jews or the Irish, he said.

Legislators have been wrestling with immigration reform for years, and the pending bills before the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives are complicated, Rep. Holt said. But given the issues deep psychological roots, it is not surprising that it has taken this long, he said.

The U.S. Senate passed an immigration reform bill last summer. Among its provisions are measures to increase border security between the United States and Mexico; an electronic entry and exit tracking system; and a workplace verification system.

Undocumented immigrants would have to pay assessed taxes, application fees and a $1,000 penalty, as well as be subjected to background checks, on the road to attaining citizenship. It could take years to be granted American citizenship.

The U.S. House of Representatives has not acted on the Senate bill, but has offered its own plan. Undocumented immigrants could stay in the United States, but may not be granted citizenship. They could be granted long-term residency, which would make them second-class citizens by policy, he said.

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