No one seems to know what to do about America’s 11 million ‘illegal’ immigrants.

As millions of people demand reform, marching in dozens of cities, members of the House of Representatives and Senate remain in turmoil. They’ve created bills that call for everything from granting citizenship to immigrants – some call them illegal, even though many pay taxes and follow American law – to making them felons if they don’t return to their former homes.

Some argue economics lies at the root of this debate. Without immigrants, the economy’s bottom would drop out, as these workers often fill jobs Americans reject for the duties or the paycheck. Others argue immigrant labor decreases wages for Americans (especially those with no high school degree) because immigrants are paid less and thus Americans working the same jobs are also paid less. But businesses love immigrants, because they mean cheap labor, which means bigger profit. Finally, many argue immigrants financially strain the education and housing systems.

The basis of this debate could be political. While Republicans and Democrats have compromised on some elements of future policy, Republicans struggle to remain united. The presidential election, after all, is on the horizon. Thus, 11 million immigrants often seem like 11 million political pawns.

But here’s the real root: cultural elitism and racism. Americans have a superiority complex, from being American and largely from being white.

‘There’s no question that race has always been and will continue to be an important variable in American attitudes toward immigration,’ said Elizabeth Cohen, an assistant professor of political science, who specializes in the politics of citizenship.

So immigrants do jobs no ‘real’ American wants to do, and we ‘need’ them to do those jobs – scrub our toilets, pick our strawberries and gut our chickens, for low wages. But this ‘need’ implies they’re somehow inferior or desperate. This seems problematic. Poor Mexicans (for example, since no one seems to talk about the wealthy Swiss immigrants anyway) need just as much money to survive in America as anyone else, and they’re just as disgusted by rotting flesh or the hot burning sun on their backs as anyone else. Should we be happy that we pay Mexicans less than what Americans would accept for jobs Americans won’t do?

We should be happy when we treat Mexicans as full humans. We should demand that employers raise salaries for all. Golly, then more Americans would be enticed to these jobs, and then there’d be fewer jobs for immigrants. Voila, fewer immigrants – which should please some anti-immigrant whiners.

Perhaps we just don’t want non-white, non-American people in our schools and neighborhoods. They’re certainly not an economic strain. Most immigrants pay taxes, and if more become legalized, more would pay taxes, according to the April 10 edition of Time magazine. And if legalized with the stipulation of learning English, they’d be bilingual in school – a worthy goal for all Americans.

Of course, America must have some immigration policy. The government must reform to more tightly control borders. Incoming immigrants should immediately be placed on the citizenship track that includes several steps, including English and civics classes, tax payments and security checks. But we must not view immigrants as less than ‘real’ Americans, as just a financial drain or boon or as political gold. They are humans immigrating to the United States, like most Americans’ ancestors. They should not live in fear of being caught and punished but be transformed into true citizens, pursuing some sort of American dream.