Immigration Reform 2013: Undocumented Immigrants Say They're Not Surprised By ‘Gang Of 7’ Collapse

The House "Gang of 7", the bipartisan group of representatives who had been working on and off on a comprehensive bill overhauling the nation's immigration laws, effectively disbanded on Friday after two more of its Republican members announced they would leave the group. Their departure has dashed the hopes of the four Democratic members that the Gang would be able to promote a comprehensive alternative to the Senate's own overhaul bill, which House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has refused to consider, citing opposition to it from the chamber's Republican majority. The news has also caused dismay among many undocumented immigrants who have made their lives in the United States.

Mauro and María Bilbao, who are living in Arizona, spoke to Univision on Friday not long after the news broke, telling the network that they'd taken it like the dropping of a bomb. "I'm not surprised," Maria said. "It shows a lack of will on the part of the Republicans. It's lack of will to solve the problem of the 11 million of us who are here undocumented." She added, "They should stop playing at politics, and playing with us...they should give us an opportunity."

Texas Republican John Carter and Sam Johnson said in a press release on Friday morning that they'd left the group because they didn't trust President Barack Obama to enforce immigration laws. The president and authorities in the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have come under the crosshairs of Republicans for a series of memos and orders designed to focus enforcement efforts on high-priority immigrants and free up space in a backlogged detention system. A presidential order which deferred deportation for many young undocumented immigrants and the parole of thousands of detained immigrants from centers were among measures which Carter and Johnson said have "irrevocably damaged our efforts of fixing our broken immigration system."

Mauro Bilbao told Univision that he felt like the Gang of Seven was an "empty title", as it "didn't produce anything". He added that he and Maria had long suffered under fear that the slightest slipup could earn them deportation. "I've worked really hard, I've worked night and day, from Monday to Sunday. I'm not asking them for anything. I would explain to them my story and I would tell them, 'If you all don't think that I'm a person who meets the conditions for immigrating to this country, then who are you looking for?'" he said.

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