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“There are solutions to this whole thing if people will stop thinking ‘it’s Republican,’ ‘it’s Democratic,’ ‘it’s liberal’ or ‘it’s conservative,’ ” she said.

Spurred to action with the difficulties she faced in navigating immigration bureaucracies to hire people to work at the Colorado horse park that she owns, Ms. Krieble formulated what she calls the “Red Card Solution.” Her goal is to make it easier to hire guest workers in a legal manner using a smart card loaded with worker information such as photo identification and visa data.

Republicans and Democrats have criticized her in the past, mainly because her plan requires illegal immigrants to return to their home countries and pass background checks and health screenings to obtain the smart card and begin a path toward citizenship. Hard-line immigration hawks say this would reward illegal behavior, and open-borders advocates say it imposes too many barriers to undocumented workers.

Her plan gained some support among Republicans such as Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, but had difficulty gaining popular appeal. She’s renewing her efforts next week with a screening of a 24-minute documentary, “Red Card Solution,” on Capitol Hill and an event at the National Press Club. Mr. Pence is expected to introduce the plan again later this month in the House.

“Either we need foreign workers or we don’t,” Ms. Krieble said. “If we need them, let’s get them and let’s get qualified people.”

• Amanda Carpenter can be reached at acarpenter@washington times.com.