Congress' inaction on immigration reform this year created a void that was soon filled by a groundswell of pressure for state leaders to act. Officials close to the issue in other states caution that it's important for Iowans to understand the state's real issues before deciding to act. So what are they?

The Register examines them in an ongoing report.  Two decades of growth in the state's Latino immigrant population - including the estimated 2.7 percent of the state's work force that is undocumented - have come with growing pains, Iowa economists and demographers say.  That growth has meant thousands more children to educate, greater medical costs to cover and depressed wages for native workers in some industries.

But it also has brought a burst of new economic vitality to withering communities around the state, experts say. Latinos represent a new generation of workers to take over where others have left or are dying, and legions of families to rent and buy homes, pay taxes, start businesses, and contribute to strapped programs like Social Security.

Iowa's limited growth from its native population places the state in a somewhat different position from other states as it approaches immigration issues, demographers say.  Immigrants, who have a higher birth rate, have accounted for the vast majority of the state's growth since 2000.

"Anybody who really knows how our economy works knows if we don't get new people in the state, we're in very serious trouble long-term," said Mark Grey, a University of Northern Iowa professor who runs the New Iowans Center. The center helps communities and businesses accommodate immigrant and refugee newcomers living and working in the state. "Our future economic health is clearly tied to our ability to accommodate these people."