The debate on whether amnesty should be given to all current undocumented immigrants in the U.S. is one that needs to be settled sooner rather than later.

According to a recent Pew Research Center survey, 75 percent of Americans agree that immigration reform would benefit the American economy. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that immigration reform would result in a $197 billion decrease in the federal deficit. Not only would reform result in a decrease in the deficit, but state and federal tax contributions would increase as well.

Contrary to popular belief, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy reports that 11.2 million current undocumented immigrants already pay taxes.

Taking all this into consideration, the government still has yet to come to a conclusion regarding reform.

The problem here is that the only options proposed have been all-or-nothing solutions: Either all undocumented immigrants are given citizenship, or there is no reform at all. An up-and-coming proposal suggests giving undocumented immigrants a legal status to be able to stay in the U.S. but not granting them citizenship.

With such a new idea gaining traction, the details have yet to be sifted out. However, a compromise like this legislation is one that will go much further than previously suggested solutions with more support.

When it comes to topics like immigration reform, compromise is key, or no progress will be made.