Dick Durbin is a Democrat from Illinois

Lindsay Graham is a Republican from South Carolina,

The two United States senators have fashioned a dream deal for the nation’s economy.

It won’t cost much.

In fact, it will pay massive dividends for generations to come on the strength of investments taxpayers have already made.

It’s called the 2023 Dream Act. And it will have a huge return for this country.

Dreamers is shorthand for the estimated 2.3 million undocumented immigrants who were brought to this country illegally by their parents when they were under 16 years of age.

The term is derived from Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals that granted them a temporary reprieve to not worry about deportation .

The bipartisan 2023 Dream Act establishes a pathway to citizenship for certain Dreamers, undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. at a young age and have grown up in the United States.

The legislation is necessary to ensure that Dreamers can continue living in — and contributing to — the country they call home instead of being deported.

 With that in mind, ask yourself if that is a dumb deal?

Before you answer, would you invest $100.9 billion in a project and then give it to your competitor?

That is exactly what those contemplating rejecting the 2023 Dream Act would do when it comes to the status of 1.8 million the bipartisan proposal addresses among the 2.3 million Dreamers.

The debate so far has centered on morality and emotion. That’s not good enough. Let’s talk about what government should be talking about — the wise and efficient use of tax dollars.

Here’s what we know gleaned from various federal reports.

There are  an estimated 1.6 million Dreamers that would  be eligible for the pathway to legal status under the Durbin-Graham proposal.

Potential beneficiaries must be enrolled in school, have earned a high school diploma or equivalency, or meet military service requirements

 Most have been here for at least five years. Some have served in the military. Many are in college and have received degrees. They do not have criminal records. Many are working legally with work permits while their legal status is in limbo.

And 750,000 have a child under 18 that are legal citizens of the United States as they were born here.

Between federal, state, and local tax sources we spend $12,621 a year in this country to educate students.

Assume the 1.6  million Dreamers each have only been in United States schools for five years each which is extremely unlikely to be that low, that comes to a $100.9 billion investment of American tax dollars. Toss in other investments made into their health and welfare and we’re talking some serious coin.

That, of course, is an argument those against allowing Dreamers to stay, use saying they are costing taxpayers billions.

OK, but that is precisely the point. They have cost taxpayers billions so why throw away the investment before it starts returning dividends?

The middle ground — one would assume — would be to clamp down on illegal immigration more than is happening know just with words coming out of the White House — and offer the 1.6 million Dreamers citizenship with the provision they must apply within a year and mandating the government process all applications within three years.

That way you protect the taxpayers’ investment and reduce exposure going forward.

Why protect the investment, you ask? Let’s say 80 percent of the Dreamers originally hailed from Mexico. Why would we want to send a country with the ability to take away jobs from the United States either through the North American Free Trade Agreement or in the world market close to 1.6 million well educated workers?

Why should American taxpayers give Mexico such a great gift?

Our relationship with Mexico is more partner than adversary. But still, we would have paid for a massive investment in strengthening their workforce that ultimately would be at the expense of our workforce.

And be very clear on this point: The Dreamers that are working may be here illegally but they are working legally with work permits. There’s a huge difference as they are not being paid under the table and they are paying taxes.

Then there are the Dreamers working toward degrees — again much at the expense of American taxpayers — who are being prepped to be nurses, medical techs, software engineers, teachers and more.

Not only would that throw away the taxpayers’ investment but we’d be giving Mexico skilled and educated labor in high demand fields. While on one level that may sound neighborly, it ignores the fact why we have public schools which is to educate a productive workforce.

Instead of everyone snarling every time Congress talks about immigrants or illegals maybe everyone should ask themselves why we haven’t had any real effective immigration reform that is actually implemented in a timely manner during the last 25 years?

And by timely manner, it should not take someone like Californian Sergio Garcia applying permanent residency when he’s 17 to wait 21 years to be issued a green card during which time he obtained a law degree and won a five year battle to be allowed to practice law without being a citizen due to the government’s inefficiency.

 If we could fight and win World War II in four years, we can certainly process immigration and citizenship issues much faster.

The Democrats and Republicans have each been in a position at various times during the past 25 years to pass and implement needed reforms.

The reason neither side hasn’t should be painfully obvious.

Both are beholden to big money interests across the business and big union spectrum that prefer the uncertainty to capitalize on the fears of illegal labor. The last thing they want is immigration reform. Sure, some get caught and are slapped with fines but given the miniscule penalties as opposed to the cost savings obtained simply by having an employee off the books such federal prosecution because a reasonable cost of doing business.

It doesn’t help that they are factions in both parties’ political bases that either believe there should be no borders or believe if “the wall” is built it would also deter legal immigrations.

Everyone likes to look for win-win solutions. There are very few immigrant solutions that are as a big win for the “illegal” immigrants as well as American taxpayers.

But if folks insist on settling the score, so to speak, we can kick all the Dreamser out and with them an investment of American tax dollars that is more likely closer to $200 billion than $100 billion.

That is not a deal anyone would brag about.

This column is the opinion of editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinions of The Bulletin or 209 Multimedia. He can be reached at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com