The Immigration and Naturalization Service is one of the poorest-run government agencies. As a result, there are about 8 million to 12 million undocumented workers in this country.

The legal and moral question is, what are we going to do about it? More specifically, what should South Carolina do about it?

Some of these undocumented immigrants already have roots here. A mass deportation is impractical and unreasonable. Perhaps that is what is behind the guest-worker program proposed by the Bush administration.

However, the Fair Immigration Reform Movement, an effort lead by a consortium of grass-roots and immigrant rights organizations from more than 18 states, finds President Bush’s guest-worker plan deeply flawed.

The reason for the objection to this plan, which would grant three-year temporary worker visas for undocumented workers, is that it is not a real solution to our broken immigration system.

Instead of providing real solutions to the millions of undocumented immigrants who live in constant fear of being singled out for expulsion, the reform movement sees it as a plan that provides a clear and orderly path for their deportation.

So what is the answer? The reality is that undocumented immigrants who are here now are going to be either workers or vagrants. Our society would not want them as vagrants. After all, they left their country, risking everything in search for a better life — for the land of milk and honey. They came here to work.

And they are hard workers. They are, for the most part, unskilled and with very little education. Matching a willing worker with a willing employer fulfills an economic and societal need. These workers are filling jobs that U.S. workers, for the most part, do not care to apply for. And many employers in the construction, landscaping, janitorial and food service fields need workers.

Therefore, to claim that immigrants are taking jobs away from U.S. citizens is inaccurate. If they are employed, they are paying taxes, and they are not draining the state’s welfare funds. They are also consumers, helping the economy. Most immigrants in South Carolina are Hispanics, and more than 65 percent are from Mexico. There is no Middle East connection here, and to use the fear of terrorism as an excuse to discriminate against them would be a stretch.

Why, then, make it more difficult for them by denying them a driver’s license to drive to work or any other place they need to go?

According to the National Immigration Law Center, 117 bills that address immigrants’ ability to obtain a driver’s license were introduced in state legislatures last year. Thirty-seven sought to expand immigrants’ access to driver’s licenses, and 65 bills sought to restrict access. As of July, 17 of these bills had been enacted.

How are immigrants expected to go the grocery store, or to the doctor or to school meetings? I advocate that undocumented workers be given an opportunity to drive (if they pass the tests) to earn a living. If the fear is that a driver’s license constitutes a de facto legalization of their status, call it something else. Instead of a driver’s license, call it a driver’s permit and color it differently so there is no question.

The bills that seek to remove restrictions do so by, for example, removing Social Security number or documentation requirements, restrictions that prevent many non-citizens from obtaining driver’s licenses and automobile insurance. Other proposals include allowing the individual taxpayer identification number and consular identification cards to be accepted as identification.

Automobile insurance is mandatory in most states. We would have safer driving conditions if those who have to drive have insurance. Otherwise, if there is an accident, chances are that the illegal driver/immigrant will flee the scene, or not report the accident even if he is the victim. Insurance companies are on our side on this. If nothing else, they stand to increase their business.

Dr. Gaetan is a founding board member of the S.C. Hispanic Leadership Council.