WASHINGTON, June 28 (RAPSI) - The US Senate passed an immigration reform bill on Thursday in the biggest revision of the country's immigration law since the 1980s.

The bill, which contains measures to grant citizenship to 11 million undocumented immigrants, is a top priority for Democrats and opposition-minded Republicans.

The initiative will be forwarded to the House of Representatives, although speaker John Boehner said he would try to draft his own version. Immigrants will be able to obtain citizenship over the next 13 years after paying taxes and fines and passing a criminal background check.

At the same time, the bill calls for allocating $46 billion for border control and electronic employment testing. The fence on the border with Mexico will be extended to 700 miles and another 20,000 people will be hired to patrol the border.

The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 68-32. "It's landmark legislation that will secure our borders and help 11 million people get right with the law," Senate Democratic majority leader Harry Reid said. 

However, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell opposed the reform bill because it would allow the country's unauthorized immigrants to obtain temporary legal status. However, he failed to rally all of his party votes - only 32 of the 46 Republicans in the Senate voted against the bill.