With America's rapidly growing Hispanic population, immigration reform has been a hot button issue lately. Now it appears that the Republican party is at a critical juncture in how it approaches the latest immigration bill to make it to the House of Representatives.

The bill, which was put together by a group of Senators known as the "Gang of Eight," would give young undocumented people who were brought to the United States as children a clear and safe path to citizenship. Though the bill was part of a bipartisan effort, not everyone is on board with the cause.

"If we reward people for breaking the law, we get more law-breakers. They got here on their own, and if the opportunities are not here -- if we shut down the jobs magnet, if we secure the border -- then a lot of people will find a way back to their home country," said Republican Congressman Steve King.

Unfortunately for Congressman King, the issue is a bit more complex than that, and doubly so for Republicans. The main reason for the complexity is due to the fact that the bill passed easily in the Senate with a vote of 68-32. Should it fail in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, the GOP would be seen as being quarrelsome and unwilling to cooperate, even with a bipartisan effort.

"If immigration reform fails to pass, Republicans will get the blame," said Republican strategist John Feehery. "If they alienate this voting bloc, they are going to have a coalition that will continually vote against them, and they will be in big trouble."

It would seem that the GOP is in a bit of a bind over how to vote when the bill does eventually come up in the House. There is still some uncertainty as to when that would be exactly, as the bill's backers do not want to promote it until the opportune moment, perhaps sometime later this fall.

The bill itself would allow undocumented immigrants under the age of 31 to stay in the United States while they work towards attaining legal status in the country. That could mean that they would spend upwards of a decade in limbo, but would be protected in the mean time. So far the bill's backers are optimistic about its chances to institute real immigration reform soon.

"I think the work has been done," said a Democratic staffer close to the situation. "I think they've got a good proposal. I think they're waiting to see whether there is any chance that a comprehensive bill is going to be looked at, or components of this bill could be looked at. But I think there are probably some additional machinations that have to happen first."