Editorial: It’s time to work to solve this issue of immigration

The last time Congress tried a serious effort at immigration reform was in 2007, which failed. The issue has been debated now for more than a decade.

Border enforcement has improved with illegal border crossings down 80 percent over the past two decades, according to published reports. That is an improvement.

The Senate Monday announced a bipartisan plan to address immigration based upon four principles: border enforcement, employer enforcement, addressing legal immigration (including temporary and skilled workers) and provide a pathway for some illegal immigrants to citizenship.

President Obama encouraged Congress to address the immigration issue by passing legislation that would allow many of the nation’s 11 million illegal immigrants to work their way to citizenship.

Now a bipartisan group in the House is working on drafting its own legislation plan, including a path to citizenship.

It appears that there is growing momentum to really craft and pass a bipartisan plan to address immigration. Recent polls have shown Americans increasingly support immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship.

The four pillars of the Senate plan are a good place to start.