New immigration reform bill from Hispanic caucus in Congress

House and Senate immigration bills stalled by Texas RepublicansWith the debate over immigration reform raging on with seemingly no end in sight, a proposal is being worked on by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus that could be up for discussion on Capitol Hill later this year.

Representative Linda Sanchez last week told the press that the caucus, which consists of over two dozen Latino Congressional legislators from all around the United States, is drafting new legislation for immigration reform to be considered by Washington. The immigration reform debate has been long and bitter, with a bipartisan proposal being passed by the Senate in 2013 only for the House of Representatives to refuse to take a vote on the bill that would have impacted on around 12 million undocumented immigrants already living and working in the country. “We had enough votes [to get it passed] but the speaker of the House [Republican John Boehner] had no intention of submitting it to a vote,” Sanchez claims.

The Republican Party now controls both the House of Representatives and the Senate, resulting in President Obama attempting to take executive action to enact immigration reform. This action has been put on hold following a legal challenge.

The Hispanic Caucus, whose task it is to advocate for the issues that affect the Latino community in both the United States and Puerto Rico, is crafting a bill that is believed to be similar to the Senate bill; however, Representative Ruben Gallego believes the new bill may have more of a chance given the proximity to the 2016 election.