国际英语新闻:U.S. Immigration reform crucial to Republican chances at winning White House, says top Democr

WASHINGTON, June 30 (Xinhua) -- Passing immigration reform is an absolute must if U.S. Republicans are ever to have a fighting chance at winning the White House, said House minority leader Nancy Pelosi on Sunday.

As Congress debates the most sweeping immigration reforms in years, Republicans would need to pass a bill "if they ever want to win a presidential race," said the House's leading Democrat on NBC 's "Meet the Press."

The comments came just days after the Senate passage of a sweeping bill that includes plans to spend more than 40 billion U. S. dollars to beef up the U.S.-Mexico border with thousands of additional law enforcement personnel. It also provides a 13-year path to citizenship for roughly 11 million illegal immigrants living in the United States, whereby they would pay fines and back taxes before becoming eligible for legal status.

But experts, pundits and some Republicans in the GOP-controlled House contend the bill is dead on arrival there, as many conservatives in Congress are against the legislation's centerpiece path to citizenship, which they blast as blanket amnesty to illegal immigrants.

Many call first for strengthened border security before the path to citizenship can occur, despite the bill's provision to add 20,000 border guards and expensive technology such as drones and infrared cameras.

On Friday, Republican Representative Tim Huelskamp told the " Laura Ingraham show," a nationally syndicated radio talk show, that he was "absolutely confident that a majority of Republicans are not going to give citizenship to 11 million illegal aliens."

That comment came on the heels of House Speaker John Boehner's assertion on Thursday that the House "is not going to take up and vote on whatever the Senate passes."

Besides Pelosi, many analysts and Republican insiders contend immigration reform a top concern for the nation's large Hispanic voting block is a make-or-break issue for the GOP after losing 71 percent of that demographic in November's presidential elections.

Republicans are struggling to re-define themselves as more inclusive of minorities at a time when U.S. census records show whites are steadily becoming a minority.

With 50,000 Hispanics reaching voting age every month in the United States, analysts say the party risks becoming obsolete without more support from Hispanics and other minorities.