Millions of immigrants are in the country illegally, employers are having trouble hiring the qualified workers they need from other countries, and some lawmakers are concerned about the economic toll illegal immigrants impose on the state's education and health care systems.

Those are just a few of the problems. But state and federal lawmakers are proposing dozens of fixes, from clamping down on the country's borders to requiring employers to play a bigger role in verifying workers' legal status.

"There is widespread agreement we have a problem," said Rep. Paul Weissman, D-Louisville, chairman of a state legislative committee that considered 10 proposed laws on immigration this week. "The disagreement is on the solutions."

Colorado lawmakers debated 10 Republican measures Feb. 21 for more than seven hours, hearing sometimes emotional testimony from private citizens, employer groups, lawyers, activists and employees on both sides of the proposals.

While all but three bills were killed, the issue is likely to resurface later this session and is almost certain to be a major issue in election campaigns later this year. A group called Defend Colorado Now is gathering signatures for a proposed ballot initiative that would amend the Colorado constitution to deny non-emergency medical and other services to illegal immigrants.

"The public is frustrated, as we are, by the federal government's inability or unwillingness to fix this problem," said House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver. "So people are turning, understandably, to other levels of government."

The debate has big implications for employers and the economy. Immigrant workers -- legal and otherwise -- play an important role in many Colorado industries, including tourism, retail, construction and technology. One in seven U.S. workers is an immigrant, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), which is based in Denver.