I have a friend named Jaime Martinez Espinal. I met him several years ago at our local Y.

Like others who know him, I respect his work ethic; his willingness to help others; and most of all, the love he has for his wife, Jennifer, and their four beautiful children — Isabel (6), Juliana (5), Jaime Jr. (3) and Giovanni (15 months).

Jaime has been working in the kitchen of a local restaurant that my wife and I often frequent. In that capacity, he has regularly logged 70-hour work weeks to support his family.

Like me, many others have come to know Jaime at the Y, where he enjoys lifting weights, spinning classes, playing pickle ball and volunteering his time to assist with sponsored events.

The problem? Jaime is in our country illegally. For reasons that still have not been explained, he recently was taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. As a result, he now is being detained in a secure detention facility in Juneau, awaiting deportation to Mexico.

Jaime's circumstances have garnered a modest amount of media attention. Reactions have been predictably mixed.

Those on the left cite Jaime's case in support of open borders and blanket amnesty. Those on the right cite Jaime's case as an example of good law enforcement — pointing to the need for tighter border control and more aggressive deportation of all who are here illegally.

Neither position is particularly sensible or humane. Partisan, ideologically driven positions make it virtually impossible for people like Jaime to get a fair shake.

The left, while pushing for open borders, blanket amnesty and various protections for illegal immigrants — including those who commit violent crimes — continue to alienate those on the right who might be willing to compromise on paths toward legal status for Jaime and others like him. The right, while pushing for more impenetrable borders as well as the more aggressive prosecution and deportation of all illegal immigrants, continue to alienate those on the left who might be willing to scale back aspects of their bigger agenda in order to focus on securing some type of legal status for people like Jaime.

Like Jaime, most people who come to our country illegally do so because they are seeking a better life and grow weary of dealing with all of our governmental bureaucracy. After an earlier deportation action, Jaime and his wife secured several thousand dollars of legal advice from a recommended immigration attorney and acted upon that advice. This was to no avail.

Some who come here illegally do seek to live off our public welfare system. Others who come are criminals who seek to exploit our citizens for money, drugs and other incentives. These folks need to go.

As a compromise, I would propose we all get behind the concept of "prosecutorial discretion." In this way, we can more aggressively focus our financial and legal resources to prosecute and deport illegal immigrants who seek to exploit our entitlement system and/or commit violent crimes. Conversely, I would propose that we consider ways of providing people like Jaime the opportunity to secure some type of legal status and, perhaps, citizenship.

People like Jaime who successfully assimilate and remain visible in their communities actually render themselves more vulnerable to deportation efforts by law enforcement. In the meantime, the truly dangerous folks remain hidden and lawyered-up, well beyond the reach of ICE and other governmental agencies. We need to focus on the real bad guys.

In Manitowoc County, our own law enforcement officers and judiciary are well-acquainted with illegal immigrants who commit serious crimes, many of whom are repeat offenders — yet these offenders are allowed to continue living in our community. Despite this fact, ICE decided to go after Jaime — a man whose only criminal offense since entering this country is a minor misdemeanor that occurred more than a decade ago.

As a matter of practicality, absolutely nothing will be gained by the deportation of my friend, Jaime. He has assimilated. He represents absolutely no threat to our community or homeland security. He is not a flight risk. Five U.S. citizens are completely dependent upon him, his wife and children. We have come too far as a nation to condone the tearing apart of families in situations of this sort.