It is over two years, now,  since the Senate passed an immigration bill. The country is still waiting for legislation that will finally deal with an old issue, an old problem that has plagued America since the last immigration bill was passed.

With 68 votes the United States Senate passed an Immigration Bill.

In a spirit of bi-partisanship 14 Republican Senators joined Democrats in passing a bill. We shall see if the House of Representatives will ever join with the Senate in dealing with an issue that has long simmered and festered in the emotional consciousness of the American people.

No one claims that the bill is perfect but it attempts to satisfy concerns that each political party has regarding what is estimated to be over 11 million undocumented workers in the United States.

There is something for everyone in the bill. If you want border security, 30,000 new border patrol officers are included in the bill. If you want a tighter border where it will be much more difficult to cross over into the United States, there are provisions in the bill that would use technology and greater surveillance methods to make it more difficult for any new undocumented individuals to cross the border. There is a lengthy process by which those who have been here for awhile can become citizens.

In this era of ideologically laced politics, we can not let perfection be the enemy of the good. The reality is that we have had for many years now, families living in the shadows doing work that most Americans would never do. Whether the work is picking strawberries or cleaning toilets, or being a nanny to our children or taking care of our lawns, these are real human beings living among us.

It can be only a good thing to finally give peace of mind to those families so that they don’t have to worry about someone knocking on their doors during the middle of the night.

American corporations have long sought cheap labor. It is time to face the reality that we need to know who is living in America for security reasons. It is nothing but a huge contradiction to on one hand ask people to come to America to provide cheap labor and then claim that we don’t want them here. We lack human compassion when we break up families by sending a father or a mother out of the country just because they lack documentation. Yes, individuals should have the proper documentation to be in America and it is an insult to those who seek to come to America through the normal legal process but we have created the problem by asking people to come here and work for low wages to do work Americans do not want to do. It is about time that we finally do something about the problem.

It is great to see the Senate be the adult in the room and work together regardless of party affiliation to attempt to solve the problems that the United States faces. It is my hope that the peoples House, the House of Representatives sits down and for once forget ideology and work on solutions that their fellow citizens demand. The House is too often concerned with defeating anything that would be construed as a victory for President. They should be about the peoples business and what is best for the national interests, and put the peoples interest above partisan political gain.

You get the feeling that the House of Representatives does not want to vote on the measure. After all if they did, it might lead to solving the problem. Republicans don’t want to solve the problem, they just want to use the issue of illegal immigrants like an emotional hammer, to gain prospective votes and contributions for their campaigns. Perhaps, the real reason is that Republicans want a scapegoat for their failure to help the Middle Class. Those 11 plus million people living in the shadows make for a great scapegoat. You can blame them for everything.

The Senate bill was a draconian bill. It is hard to imagine a stronger bill or what the Senate may have left off. No bill can guarantee success. We are still waiting for legislation to be passed.

It is no wonder that so many voters have lost respect for Congress. The American people demand action not words.