Read the op-ed that I wrote for The Denver Post discussing the urgent need to fix our broken immigration system and calling on Colorado’s delegation to the House to force a vote on the bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform bill that passed the U.S. Senate last June.

The Denver Post: House Must Vote on Immigration Reform
By Mark Udall
February 9, 2014

For years, Coloradans have demanded a common-sense, balanced way to fix our broken immigration system. In communities across the state, we've seen how our immigration system is failing, breaking apart families and keeping businesses from finding the labor they need to grow our economy. I took these concerns to my colleagues in Washington and am proud that last June, the U.S. Senate passed a bipartisan, comprehensive immigration reform bill that Coloradans support.

The Senate's vote for immigration reform was a historic victory that signaled Republicans and Democrats alike were finally serious about confronting one of the biggest problems facing Main Street businesses and hardworking families. For a moment, it seemed Congress was on pace to break Washington gridlock and address our immigration crisis. But nearly a year later, Colorado's immigrant families — and their peers across the country — remain in limbo.

Ignoring the urgent need to act on comprehensive immigration reform, the only thing leaders in the U.S. House have said they'll let pass before the year's end is time.

This gridlock won't keep families together, make our borders more secure or help Colorado businesses thrive. I refuse to accept that the House's inaction is the best they can do. That's why I am calling on the House to bridge the partisan divide and take the procedural steps necessary to force an up-or-down vote on the immigration bill that has already passed the Senate with both Republican and Democratic votes.

The more I hear from Coloradans, the surer I am that failing to act on immigration reform will have dire consequences for our state — all at a time when Congress should embrace the border security enhancements and access to opportunity included in the Senate bill. When more than 11 million undocumented people live in constant fear of deportation, they cannot help grow our economy. When millions of families are forced into the shadows, our communities suffer. And when undocumented students are unable to join their peers in college, they are cut off from the American dream.

When I first met Oscar — a Colorado DREAMer who was brought into the country at a very young age — all he asked for was an opportunity for him and his two brothers to live free of fear. Despite many obstacles, each of the brothers is pursuing a college degree, one in psychology and another in engineering.

Another Coloradan, Jorge, has been contributing to our economy and his community for 23 years. He is the proud father of four U.S. citizens, one of whom serves our country as a U.S. Army corporal. But Jorge lives in constant fear of being deported and separated from his family.

Millions of Americans like Oscar and Jorge deserve a tough but fair pathway to earned citizenship and the opportunities that have made Colorado and our nation great since its founding. Coloradans — from business and religious leaders to farmers and middle-class families — agree it's time to help our neighbors, classmates, coworkers and friends, by passing a comprehensive immigration reform bill. They agree that our system is badly broken in many places and that addressing a single part will not solve the issue.

Their voices are why senators from both parties found common ground and acted to fix our broken immigration system. But now it's time for the U.S. House to follow suit. Colorado's delegation to the House, Republicans and Democrats alike, must find a way to give the Senate's immigration reform bill the vote it deserves.

As an old mountain climber, I cannot help but compare challenges in Congress to my time summiting Colorado and the world's highest mountains. In 1992, I was working my way up the south face of Mount Denali. I was out of food and faced with 20-below temperatures. What I learned from that tortuous trek is that when you're fully committed — and the only way home is literally up and over the mountains — you find a way to make it happen.

Let's give Colorado businesses the tools to succeed. Let's give every budding doctor, engineer, and teacher a chance to reach their potential, and let's fight to build strong Colorado communities by keeping families together.

Enough is enough. The time has come to end the obstruction favored by some congressmen in the House and fulfill our most basic constitutional obligation as a legislature: Let's have a vote.

Udall is Colorado's senior U.S. senator.