After many years of being stalemated, the issue of Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) is finally starting to show signs of having solid bipartisan support in Congress. Members of both the Democrat and Republican parties have come together to create a bill that combines the Republican party's wishes for stronger enforcement laws and the Democratic party's wish to consider eventual citizenship for currently undocumented immigrants.

The news comes in the wake of the recent November U.S. presidential election, in which the Republican party faced heavy criticism regarding the alienation of minority voters, including Latino voters, who voted 70% in favor of President Obama. It is refreshing to see that in the interest of moving their party forward, Republicans have now come together with Democrats to embrace the idea of immigration reform. This is a drastic change of tone by the Republican party compared to two years ago, when they criticized President Obama's intention to move forward with creating a comprehensive immigration overhaul.

Some main parts of the proposed bill include the following:

• Strengthened border patrol security with new technology, such as aerial drones.
• A requirement for undocumented immigrants to register with the government, thereafter obtaining a probationary legal status that would allow them to live and work legally in the United States.
• A requirement that undocumented immigrants "go to the back of the line when seeking green cards and citizenship.
• A separate and faster path to citizenship for immigrant farm workers.

Since immigration reform fever has hit Congress, we also hope to see changes with regard to laws for non-immigrant visas as well. For example, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida (R) is working with Democratic senators to introduce a bill that would allow increase the yearly H-1B numerical quota, which is currently set at a level that many agree is far too low, given the U.S.'s desperate need for science and technology professionals.

The past few years have been difficult for CIR supporters and immigrants residing in the U.S., not only with Congress putting CIR on the back burner, but also because of elected officials passing anti-immigration acts, such as Arizona State Bill 1070.