Vargas on Stalled Immigration Bill: ‘It's the Dysfunction Here’

Rep. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, is an old San Diego and California political hand. But he hasn't held office in Washington D.C. before and he's feeling the difference, according to NBCLatino.com.

He says the evidence is in the immigration bill which is being held up by a partisan impasse over the path to citizenship and increased border enforcement.

Immigration reform is “good for the economy, and it’s good for the immigrants,” Vargas explained to NBC Latino. “We in Congress can’t seem to get this done – it’s the dysfunction here. We ought to pass immigration reform that’s comprehensive.”

He is not in favor, he says, of more spending on enforcement at the border, but said he is willing to compromise if it means getting an immigration bill through. The Senate passed its version of the legislation in June, but the House has yet to take up the issue.

In his short seven months in office, Vargas also has noted the influence of the Tea Party and says it's evidence of a schism in the Republican party. 

“The Tea Party is very different from the Republican Party. It almost seems like a coalition government,” said Vargas, a one-time San Diego City Council member who served in both houses of the state legislature.

For more, see NBC Latino.