Stephen Yale-Loehr, immigration law expert and professor of law at Cornell University, comments on the immigration reform outline created by a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators – and how long it may take to actually pass legislation.

He says:

“Congress will have a hard time enacting a law to fix our broken immigration system. It took 20 years to get broken; it can't be fixed overnight.

“The last time Congress tackled major immigration reform, it took nearly 10 years from the time the first bill was introduced in 1981 until legislation was finally enacted in 1990. Moreover, Congress operated more efficiently then. I doubt immigration reform legislation will be enacted this year, but I hope I am wrong.

“Immigration reform, like tax and Social Security reform, is very complex. Even if everyone wants reform, it may still take a long time to get a bill through Congress.”