Pathway to American Citizenship?

There hasn't been much talk about immigration, or anything else for that matter with all this focus on Syria. Once searching past all of that I did find some information on "The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act" or S. 744. This bill was introduced in the Senate on April 16, 2013 and then passed on June 27, 2013. It was written by the "Gang of Eight" which consisted of 4 Democrats and 4 Republicans, and it passed 68-32. The title is not the only thing long about this bill, it includes 844 pages worth of material. The bill is the U.S. government attempt at immigration reform. It includes a pathway for illegal immigrants to gain citizenship, adding more border patrol agents, and pushes the E- verify system harder. Something I found interesting is it also proposes new visas.

Most Americans are concerned with the pathway to citizenship for the illegal immigrants that are already here. The bill has passed in the Senate but now must make its way through the House of Representatives. I read an article on ABC News ( http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/immigration-bill-knot-special-citizenship-path-20129505 ). Both political parties can agree that something must be done about our 11 million illegal immigrants, but Democrats are proposing a "special pathway" for citizenship. Republican representatives are not to happy with that terminology. Rep. Jason Chaffetz told ABC 4 yes there should be a path to citizenship for them just not a special one. I can agree with that, there are large numbers of people who are seeking citizenship the legal way, why should someone who arrived here illegally be given a special process to gain citizenship?

September 9 is when Congress will resume and the bill will have to survive the House of Reps. The House is majority Republican and is lead by John Boehner. The media portrays Democrats as being for immigration, while Republicans typically oppose it. This would prove them right that the bill passed in the Senate, but would fail in the House of Reps, but I think the country is in desperate need of immigration reform. We have all seen how the media has portrayed him, so I will definitely be watching the outcome of this bill.