The U.S. Senate passed historic immigration legislation yesterday that offers hopes of American citizenship to millions, promises a military-style surge to secure the border, and also should have a positive effect on horse racing and the horse industry.

The Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013, was approved on a 68-32 vote June 27. The American Horse Council (AHC) supports the bill, it said in a statement following the vote, "because it would fix many of the immigration issues facing the horse industry."

It will now be up to the House of Representatives to take action on this bill or their own version of a comprehensive immigration measure.

"The bill as passed would substantially increase border security and implement an employment verification system," the AHC statement said. "Most importantly for the horse industry, it would allow undocumented workers to legalize their status and replace the broken H-2A program with a new agricultural worker program administered by U.S. Department of Agriculture. It would also make improvements to the H-2B program and create a new W-visa low-skilled program that would allow employers to hire foreign workers when no Americans can be found