Once again, from Tampa to Detroit to Los Angeles, thousands of immigrants and their advocates took to the streets Tuesday to protest our nation's immigration policies.

The need for reform looms large, even though the number of protesters fell short of the roughly 1 million who last year rallied to show solidarity and economic clout.

Now, after decades of false starts and political failures, the stars finally may be in alignment for developing sensible and comprehensive immigration reform.

In fact, this issue is one of the few points where President Bush and congressional Democrats may agree. Bush told Miami Dade College graduates last weekend that the immigration system is broken and reforms must treat people with dignity and help newcomers assimilate.

And there's an encouraging bipartisan effort on the table from Reps. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., and Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. Their bill, while not perfect, presents a solid starting point, by increasing the number of Border Patrol personnel and creating tougher penalties for evading inspections. It also requires the U.S. to work more closely with officials in Canada and Mexico to address issues such as human trafficking.

For asylum seekers and other vulnerable populations, the bill includes basic safeguards, including much-needed safe and secure detention policies. And it would start work on electronic employment verification to enable improved enforcement of employers skirting the law. Tough penalties mean little unless employers are equipped to handle the plethora of false documents.

Most important, the bill would create a reasonable path to citizenship for millions of immigrants now living and working here. They first would earn a "conditional" status, and, if they can prove they were in the U.S. on or before June 1, 2006, have been actively employed for six years with no criminal record and can pass a background check, they would pay a $2,000 fine, back taxes and application fees to become permanent U.S. residents.

The time also is right for a fair and reasonable guest worker program, which allows lower-wage and migrant workers to legally work for a set period of time. This would address the economic need for labor and prevent the exploitation and intimidation of workers, who no longer would fear retribution because of their illegal status.

Clearly, there's much work to be done to fix the process for those choosing the legal path. The process for temporary visas and green cards has a staggering backlog that could result in untenable waiting periods that stretch into several years. That leaves little incentive to opt for the legal path, particularly when jobs offer many a far better life than their home countries. We need to ensure the legal process works if we expect other reforms to take root.

Congress must act on reform before the presidential campaign, so meaningful change won't become mired in election-year politics.

We've been dealing with antiquated and ineffective polices for decades. Our policies have strained the already beleaguered system and torn apart too many immigrant families. The time for immigration reform is now.