We already know that the 112th Congress was regarded as one of the worst of our time. Under the House leadership of Speaker John Boehner along with the Senate and president, the 113th Congress will be dealing with issues such as raising the debt ceiling, which the president wants to raise with no intention of compromising with Republicans, and gun rights.

The issue of gun rights has been so heavily debated it has go as far as to call for the deportation of CNN commentator Piers Morgan. Even Piers cannot escape the fiery breath of the “deportation” rhetoric going on in the U.S.

The economy is still not where it is suppose to be, and Britney Spears quit The X-Factor, go figure. Yet there is one issue that still needs to be resolved and will certainly garner attention of the 113th Congress: comprehensive immigration reform.

It seems that these three words cringe on the ears of Republicans and have the Democrats on fire with labor unions. Congressman Luis Gutierrez, a Democrat representing the 4th Congressional District of Illinois.

Rep. Gutierrez is one of the strongest Congressional advocates for comprehensive immigration reform. Yet Gutierrez realizes if he wants a comprehensive immigration reform passed through Congress, he will have to reach out across the isle and gather support from Republicans.

The issue of comprehensive immigration reform comes into a haul when the issue comes to whether to lead undocumented people a path to work permits or permanent residency, which can than lead to U.S. citizenship. The issue of comprehensive immigration reform has come to the point where some in the Republican Party have realized saying rhetoric like “self-deportation” will cause one to lose a major voting group (Hispanics). Just ask Governor Romney how that went for him.

The Democratic Party has fault of its own when President Obama disappointed a major portion of his Hispanic voting base when he did not pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill in his first term when he made a campaign promise to do so in 2008.

But he did promise that he would push forth the reform during his second tenure. Now that President Obama has another four years it looks like a comprehensive immigration reform bill likely pass within the upcoming years.

To my Republican friends, do not panic, Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Paul Ryan, darlings of the Tea Party, believe that a comprehensive immigration reform bill must be brought to the table that allows a pathway to obtain proper documentation but having to pay back taxes and passing a criminal background check.

Sen. Rubio and Rep. Ryan have reached out to Rep. Gutierrez in resolving this issue.  The issue of immigration must be settled once and for all in these next four years.

The reasonable solution to a comprehensive immigration reform would be to allow for path to working permits first through background checks, paying a fine and paying any back taxes owed. Also the reform would need to add for the increase in border security.

If a bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform can be solved through Congress with the works of Sen. Rubio, Rep. Gutierrez and Rep. Ryan, then the issue will finally be behind us and can move on to issues like what hair color will Nicki Minaj wear in American Idol. Wait is that show still on?

© Jose L. Fulgencio 2013