House Republicans have stood firm on their conservative stance involving immigration reform, but California Republican Rep. Jeff Denham has made it clear that stalling isn't the solution. In an effort to get the wheels in motion, he's reaching across the aisle to Democrats by backing the immigration overhaul bill.

Denham is the first House Republican to join Democrats in co-sponsoring a broad immigration overhaul bill that would provide a path to citizenship for millions of immigrants in the country illegally, The Los Angeles Times reports.

"We can't afford any more delays," the Central Valley lawmaker said in a statement Sunday. "I support an earned path to citizenship to allow those who want to become citizens to demonstrate a commitment to our country, learn English, pay fines and back taxes and pass background checks."

The Republican, who said this is "a common-sense solution to our broken system," also points out the effects on displaced children.

"I also support a faster pathway for the children who were brought here by their parents through no fault of their own, who have been raised in America and educated in our schools and have no other country to call home."

Denham signed onto a bill House Democrats introduced this month, the Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act, which aligns the bill passed by the Senate in June.

While important strides have been made, there needs to be more leaps, but the GOP-led House is far from passing its own legislation.

Two key committees have passed five bills reforming different parts of the immigration system. But they have not been scheduled for floor time yet, Politico points out. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) both said last week that they wanted to move forward on immigration reform this year, but there are deep divisions within the conference on how to approach an overhaul.

For Denham his approach to an overhaul includes tackling border issues, which also greatly affects his state.

"Border security is the first step to creating effective new immigration laws. This legislation includes language that makes securing the border a requirement, not a goal, and puts measurable benchmarks in place to be verified by independent sources to ensure that our border is secure," Denham said.

With experience on his side, Denham, who is now in his second term, directly sees the impact of that immigration has in his state -- he represents 40 percent Latino district that relies on immigrants to pick crops.

"In California, our agricultural economy is the backbone of our state. We depend on agricultural visas which allow people to work and return home," he said.

An Air Force veteran, Denham holds immigrants who serve in the U.S. military in high regard. He was one of six House Republicans who opposed an effort to cut off funding for an Obama administration program that halted deportation of young immigrants who are in high school or college or have served in the military.

"I believe that those who are willing to serve in our military and put their lives on the line for this country should have the right to earn citizenship," he explained. "During my time in the Air Force I served with many honorable immigrants who showed their love for America with their sacrifice. My ENLIST Act, which will be included in this bill going forward, will be the fastest path that would be available under the law."

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a key congressional Republican advocate of an immigration overhaul, is also calling for reform bills that are less sweeping than the comprehensive legislation he authored this year with a bipartisan group of senators, Politico reports.

According to a statement made by Rubio's spokesman, Alex Conant, Rubio wants to focus on areas of immigration reform where Republicans and Democrats on both sides of the Capitol could agree.

Although its progress is challenging; it's important to note that some components of immigration reform have a "broad bipartisan support," which includes increasing the number of visas available for high-skilled immigrants. On the other hand, "one major point of disagreement is what to do with the millions of undocumented immigrants in the country."

"We should not allow an inability to do everything to keep us from doing something," Contant added. "At this time, the only approach that has a realistic chance of success is to focus on those aspects of reform on which there is consensus through a series of individual bills. Otherwise, this latest effort to make progress on immigration will meet the same fate as previous efforts: failure."