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Like many of us in Maryland, I have a friend who constantly rails against illegal immigrants from Latin America, saying that they bloat the welfare rolls, raise his taxes and degrade the culture. He says we should build a fence around the southern border, and arrest and deport illegal aliens.

When he recently built a new house, however, he boasted about the cheap labor that he hired. The workers were all Latinos who did not speak English. When I asked if he had checked the immigration status of his workforce, he replied that it was not his responsibility. When I pointed out that he was writing the checks and therefore responsible, he just shrugged and said that he did not care.

There is more than enough hypocrisy on most issues today. As this little story illustrates, however, the hypocrisy is especially thick when it comes to immigration issues. Those who condemn illegal immigrants want to have it all. They want all the benefits of cheap immigrant labor, but none of the costs.

This hypocrisy will make it difficult for Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform when it takes up the matter early next year. Yet reform could become a reality if President Barack Obama makes the issue his own, as he has done with health care. Presidential backing for immigration reform is both morally right and politically expedient for Obama.

Latinos are the largest and fastest growing minority group in the United States. Latinos comprised 9 percent of the national vote in the presidential election of 2008 and overwhelmingly backed Obama. With the president's approval rating flagging among whites, his Democratic Party will need solid support from Latinos in the midterm elections of 2010. Latinos could also be a swing vote when Obama faces re-election in 2012.

Another prerequisite for progress on immigration law is the emergence of the old John McCain. The country needs the man who courageously co-sponsored the McCain-Kennedy immigration reform bill, not the candidate who waffled and weaseled on the immigration issue during the 2008 campaign.

Any comprehensive legislation on immigration will likely blend the views of reformers and restrictionists. However, the Democrats' strong majorities in the House and the Senate should ensure that any new law follows the lead of McCain-Kennedy and provides a reasonable path for currently undocumented immigrants to gain citizenship.

In the words of Latino Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-Illinois), there are "12 million undocumented workers in the United States living in a condition of exploitation, living in fear, living in the shadows of our society." A report released this week by the AFL-CIO and other labor groups shows that exploitation of these workers has hurt the wages and working conditions of the entire American workforce.

Democrats also need to act next year, not wait until 2011. Their congressional majorities may be less imposing after the midterm elections. Although legislation that rescues immigrants from the shadows of society still remains a long shot, if enacted, such reform would profoundly affect life in Maryland.

According to the most recent U. S. Census data, Maryland's rapidly growing Latino population included 359,000 persons in 2008, about 6 percent of the population, compared to less than 5 percent in 2002. Forty percent of Maryland's Latinos are non-citizens. About 135,000 Latinos live in Montgomery County, nearly 40 percent of the state's Latino population. Latinos now make up 14 percent of the county's population, up from 7 percent in 1990.

These statistics also undercount undocumented immigrants living in Maryland. According to a recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center, Maryland ranked 11th among the states, with some 250,000 undocumented immigrants, most of them Latinos.

Contrary to the image of undocumented immigrants as itinerant male laborers, the study shows that this group consists of families with children, who disproportionately fall below the poverty line and lack health insurance. Legislation that provided a path to citizenship would enable undocumented immigrants to enter the mainstream of American life, stop living in fear, gain full access to social services and avoid exploitation in the labor market.

With increasing rates of citizenship, Latinos would have the opportunity to participate more fully in Maryland politics, as both voters and officeholders. A report by The Center for American Politics and Citizenship at the University of Maryland found that Latinos made up just 1.2 percent of state-level officeholders after the 2006 elections.

Like my anti-immigrant friend, however, reformers cannot have it both ways. Reform might raise the cost of living and possibly taxes as newly documented immigrants increase demands on social services, including medical care, and the cheap, illegal labor force emerges from the shadows. On balance, however, the benefits of true immigration reform far outweigh the costs.

Allan Lichtman is a professor of history at American University and a national political analyst. His e-mail address is lichtman@

american.edu.