Across the nation, immigrant rights activists continue to vehemently protest legislation passed last December in the House of Representatives that would criminalize illegal immigrants. But some senators, recognizing that the U.S. economy depends on an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants for unskilled labor, have proposed legislation that would allow illegal immigrants to continue working here and eventually become citizens.

Despite fears that immigrant amnesty may encourage more foreigners to cross the border, it must be understood that immigrants are here to stay, in one way or another.

A recent study conducted by The Metro Area Planning Council projected that by the year 2030, “international immigration will be a critical part” of the workforce in eastern Massachusetts. This raises fears that Boston’s growing international population will not be able to fill the 240,000 new jobs expected to be created by 2030, many of which will be in the service sector.

State and city officials must not follow in the footsteps of legislators who would send immigrants packing and allow the workforce to dwindle. Instead, they should look for new and innovative ways to prepare this growing population for the challenges of a job market increasingly dependent on skilled labor.

At the most basic level, Boston schools must enter into the business of assimilation, offering intensive language classes to young immigrants to prepare them for jobs that will require a basic command of the English language.

When our forefathers flooded the streets of Boston during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, looking for better lives and fleeing famine and oppression, they were faced with a decision: adapt or die.

It is time that state and local officials take a cue from the past and take a look at the future. They must begin to work proactively to ready the immigrants of Boston, legal or otherwise, for the demands of an increasingly complex job market before it is too late.