Sweeping immigration reform, which was approved by the Senate in a decisive 68-32 vote late last month, would provide amnesty for as many as 11 million undocumented workers. Plenty of obstacles stand in the way of the bill becoming law, not least a rancorous House of Representatives. But the Senate’s bipartisan support steps up the pressure on the House to adopt matching legislation.

Passage could happen early next year, says Daniel Clifton, the Washington analyst at Strategas Research Partners. “Although at times it will look as if the House and Senate cannot agree on a final immigration reform plan, most of the controversial issues will likely get worked out and passed into law by the end of Q1 2014.”

Among the measures in the sweeping Senate bill are a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants in exchange for payment of back taxes and penalties, and a doubling in the number of skilled immigrants granted temporary H-1B visas. It would also require a dramatic increase in border security, including an expansion of the fence along the Mexican border, doubling the number of patrol agents, and more-robust employment verification. (For a skeptical take on the fence, see D.C. Current.)

via Winners and Losers From Immigration Reform – Barrons.com.