In the past year, our nation tackled some incredibly challenging issues, including healthcare and financial reform. Today, the debate marches on in Washington over immigration -- a hot-button issue that becomes even more contentious during this mid-term election season.

The challenge our elected leaders must face is whether to allow politics to get in the way of real debate, lest they squander this opportunity to tackle immigration reform in an innovative and comprehensive way that protects the security and prosperity of our nation.

Americans are frustrated by Washington's reluctance to effectively stem illegal immigration, particularly as they endure tough economic times and a dismal job market. This frustration gives rise to misdirected bills such as SB 1070 in Arizona and fuels anti-immigrant sentiment.

Americans are also justifiably concerned about the implications to our national security. Our borders remain porous, and we have 11 million people in our midst -- the vast majority hard working and honest -- whose identities are unknown. Yet all we've been hearing from politicians are excuses to do nothing or to do bits at a time. In the meantime, the problem festers.

This nation was founded and built by generations of immigrants from every corner of the globe; shaped uniquely by their talents and contributions. Each of us, with our varied backgrounds, religions and cultures, has helped weave America's strong and diverse fabric, providing the strong foundation of its success. This dynamism, which I saw personified in the example of my father, a Cuban exile who lived out the American dream, boosted industry, generated commerce and revitalized communities like our very own Miami.

Throughout U.S. history, waves of immigrants from all parts of the world came to the United States to fulfill a need. In the 1800s Chinese workers were brought in to help build the transcontinental railroad, and in the 1900s Mexican braceros toiled the fields of our nation's farmlands. Even today, immigrants -- legal or not -- contribute to our economy as workers and consumers.

While we are a nation of immigrants, we also are a nation of laws. Respect for the law has allowed our democracy to persevere in the face of great political and economic challenges. America's security and economic interests require the enactment of comprehensive immigration laws that can keep pace with our nation's growing needs. Elected leaders cannot leave the responsibility of enacting immigration reform to another generation; we can't afford it.

Recently, Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Bob Menendez, D-N.J., presented an outline to serve as the starting point for an immigration-policy overhaul. Its conceptual framework provides a real opportunity to produce comprehensive immigration reform.

Their proposal draws in large part from months of bipartisan work between Sen. Schumer and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. The plan deals aggressively with border enforcement, calling for additional resources and technologies to increase our detection capabilities. It also requires strict compliance from employers to prevent the hiring of unauthorized workers so that American workers are competing on a level playing field. The proposal also takes on the challenge of dealing with the illegal immigrants currently working and raising families in the United States and it enacts a process that is tough, yet fair, with defined limits and stringent requirements. Finally, it proposes concrete ideas to deter future illegal immigration, which will further secure our border.

Despite the workable solutions in the proposal, little progress has been made in building the bipartisan coalition necessary to create and pass a new framework for our immigration policy. Meanwhile the debate continues to polarize, reduced by extremes in both sides, to ``pro'' vs. ``anti'' in an effort to win votes. If we allow the extremes to control the debate, if we allow the issue to be politicized, if we reduce the issue to sound bites, we will miss the opportunity to enact the reform that our nation direly needs. Members of both parties must put politics aside and join forces to do what is in the best interests of the American people and of this great nation.

The status quo on immigration is simply unacceptable, it is unsustainable; the time to fix the problem is now.

Jorge Mas Santos is chairman of the Cuban American National Foundation.