In 2013, the Senate passed a bipartisan immigration bill that would have coupled a pathway to citizenship for millions of unauthorized noncitizens with a major increase in future immigrant admissions. Republicans in the House of Representatives wanted nothing to do with the plan, which faced intense opposition from conservative voters. Ever since, the partisan battle over immigration has proven utterly intractable, and the split decision in this year’s midterm elections suggests that the stalemate will continue. But it doesn’t have to be this way: The fact is, Americans agree in key respects about how to fix our broken immigration system.
