The United States continues to be locked into a heated argument over the issue of illegal immigration, with approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants believed to already live in the country, but there is growing frustration over the lack of any political action to resolve the issue.
Earlier in October thousands of people rallied across 150 cities in 40 states in order to try to pressure Washington into finally delivering an overhaul of the immigration rules in the United States. Many activists are concerned that the momentum for change is beginning to slow after the success of the bipartisan Gang of Eight immigration bill in the Senate, which has been ignored by the House of Representatives. Yet it is clear even to the Republican Party that the issue cannot just be swept under the carpet, thanks to the 2012 election results where President Obama was put back into power in part thanks to the support of the Latino community over his pro-immigration stance.
Lately, the issue of immigration reform does seem to have fallen behind other issues such as Syria, the economy and guns, and the California Immigration Policy Center’s executive director, Reshma Shamasunder, says that people are increasingly fed up of Congress continually failing to deliver on its promises.
“We haven’t had an immigration overhaul in this country for decades and our immigration laws are so outmoded and outdated that not only are they not serving immigrants well, they’re not serving the American people well,” Shamasunder notes.