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For 11 years, I've worked part-time at a local hotel, most recently as a room-service waiter - which should give you a clue about how much journalists are paid.

Early every Sunday, when I report to the kitchen for my shift, I enter a virtual Chihuahua City, from whence many of my co-workers hail. Mexican people, Mexican music on the radio, Mexican singing and even dancing, catching up on news of Mexican families in Spanglish, Mexican shouting over the din of clanging dish covers, dishwashing machines, vents, ice-makers - I love it. It's like vacationing in a foreign country, except that you have to work, and the work is hard and demanding.

They're in my head when I think about the gray, complex, intractable immigration issue now before Congress, which focuses mostly on Mexicans illegally crossing our southern border. It's an issue that twists liberals and conservatives in ideological knots - and that can't be solved by politicians who want to make partisan points. Here's an example of what I see.

Like pretty much everybody else, I find Mexicans to be good people. They work hard and dependably, are devoted parents and spouses, care for their extended families here or down south, don't cause trouble and generally are warmer, I think, than us northerners. There is some mischief, but, like I said, they're people. I would miss them sorely if they were swept away by immigration reform.

I can see why employers love these folks, too - and that is one crux of the problem. Their excellent labor is cheap, and they put up with long shifts, irregular days off and crummy benefits. They only complain so much, lest the feds hear them squawking. They take it, because they make a lot more money here than they would back home.

But truthful Americans must concede that these workers are exploited and that any decent solution to the immigration problem must improve their conditions, pay and benefits. And that is where the internal, partisan contradictions begin.

Many on the left advocate for the working poor, including undocumented immigrants. Their advocacy often touts tolerance for these workers - and, eventually, a better deal for them. But tolerance can make life worse for all working stiffs. The flood of willingly cheap labor can depress wages and take pressure off businesses to make concessions. Tolerance easily becomes a strategy for capitalist welfare - something the left abhors. Improving circumstances for undocumented workers, by contrast, can lessen their competitiveness with American workers and drive them back across the border into poverty - with cheap-labor-hungry businesses in tow.

Many on the right, moved by national-security concerns and, maybe, some xenophobia, want to be tough on illegal immigration. But their toughness could seriously stress business interests they normally support, by cutting the labor supply in the face of a huge demand.

My wish: a solution that keeps these good people and workers here and raises their standard of living and improves life for all Americans. It's a tall order. To be honest, I don't see an easy way to fill it. But it's clear to me that Congress won't even come close if it wastes any more time trying to make Democrats or Republicans look good.