Even if you had been trying, it’s now impossible to ignore the immigration debate.

Sunday’s march in Dallas was a wake up call locally, with Hispanics vowing to remain involved wherever the political process takes them.

Of all the ramifications of the immigration debate, this one will have the most far-reaching impact.

While Hispanics have grown in numbers, they have not turned that population growth into voter turnout. That seems to be changing, with the focus of many rallies turning from protest to taking action. Voter registration cards were everywhere at the Dallas rally, and marchers were serious about turning out in elections this November.

They want to prevent politicians from writing the type of legislation they are protesting now — the House bill to build more walls along the U.S.-Mexico border and make criminals of people who helped undocumented immigrants.

But the marchers have already won a battle.

Late Tuesday House and Senate Republicans announced they were going to drop efforts to make entering the United States illegally a felony.

The large turnouts at marches nationwide turned up the heat on representatives in Washington.

It’s now up to leaders on both sides of the aisle in the nation’s capitol to figure out what type of immigration bill will be best for our country.

Ed Board believes it’s a waste of time and money to build a massive wall along the southern border. The fact that provision was passed in December was embarrassing and sends the wrong message about what this country has stood for.

Not to mention the fact that the people building the walls would most likely be the ones who the U.S. is trying to keep out.

It also does not help to criminalize those who help out immigrants. The way the current House bill is written, old ladies at soup kitchens are just as bad as the Coyotes who sneak illegals across the border. That doesn’t make sense, but then again, not much about the House bill does.

It seems the best chance for a decent piece of legislation on immigration will come from the Senate.

There needs to be easier and more efficient ways for people who want to come to this country to do so legally. The current system is a mess and not conducive for encouraging legal immigration. If you fix that — then it’s a lot easier to deal with illegal immigrants.