Immigration Reform 2013 News: Charles Schumer Convinced Congress Will Pass Immigration Bill By July 4

The battle to pass an immigration reform bill submitted by a bipartisan U.S. Senate panel in Congress is sure to be an uphill one, yet U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., believes that in the end, the bill will be passed-in fact, he said, it could be passed by July 4.

Sen. Schumer, part of the "Gang of Eight" that drew up a comprehensive immigration reform bill designed to secure the border and place millions of undocumented immigrants on a pathway to citizenship, said on Sunday that he was confident that the bill would pass, and could even pass by the nation's birthday in July.

"We're going to put immigration on the (Senate) floor starting on June 10. I predict it will pass the Senate by July 4," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press". "We are hoping to get 70 votes, up to 70 votes, which means a lot of Republicans. And we're willing to entertain amendments that don't damage the core principles of the bill, but improve the bill - just as we did in (the Judiciary) committee."

His prediction comes after opposition to the bill began stirring during the Senate Judiciary Committee process, where the bill was still strongly approved 13-5, and after a poll was released last week by Quinnipiac University stating that more than 70 percent of Americans are doubtful that Congress will pass immigration reform into law.

Recently, even members of the Gang of Eight have expressed some skepticism that the bill would pass. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said last month that he was doubtful that the bill, as it stood, could pass the GOP-controlled house while Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., cautioned that the group was falling short of the 60 votes needed in the Senate to overcome a filibuster by immigration opponents.

However, despite these signs, Sen. Schumer was still certain that the bill could pass, even in the Republican-heavy House presided over by House Speaker John Boehner.

"If we can come out of the Senate with close to a majority of the Republican senators and almost every Democrat, that may change the equation in the House and the thinking in the House among mainstream Republicans, and they may want to go for our bill," he said.

However, U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., told CNN's State of the Union that the panel's bill "is not going to move in the House."

"I think the speaker has made it clear that we will have our own work product," she said, referring to a bipartisan panel in the House that has said they have a deal on immigration reform, but have yet to announce any details on its legislative  proposal.