The latest congressional effort to address the issue of immigration was undertaken in the spring of 2013. “Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act,” or S. 744, is a broad-based proposal for reforming the U.S. immigration system written by a bipartisan group of eight Senators known as the “Gang of Eight” ( Charles Schumer (D-NY), John McCain (R-AZ), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Michael Bennet (D-CO), and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) . The bill met support of the DHS Office of Policy and was seen as an important first …show more content…
during the sixties and the seventies of the last century continues until today. The diversity of political, socioeconomic and cultural views in the country has led to the emergence of various movements and associations, each with their own objectives. A more recent tendency in Washington is growing corporate lobbying expenditures. Today, the biggest companies have upwards of 100 lobbyists representing them, allowing them to be everywhere, all the time. Of the 100 organizations that spend the most on lobbying, 95 consistently represent …show more content…
These relatively hidden participants of policy process form loosely knit communities of policy specialists. Each community is composed of people located throughout the system, and potentially of very diverse orientations and interests, but they all share one thing: their participation and acquaintance with the issues in that particular policy area.
Heaney’s position is based upon introduced by Hugh Heclo concept of “issue networks”. What Heclo calls “issue networks” is an alliance of various interest groups and individuals that create powerful webs of influence on policy initiatives. Ideas bubble around in these alliances and the proposals get tried out in a variety of ways: through speeches, bill introductions congressional hearings, leaks to press, circulation of papers, conversations and