RIGHT SPEAK: Rep Paul Ryan (R-WI) Talks with Hispanics about the House's Immigration Reform Plan (Video 07-26-13)

Coming face-to-face with activists, immigrants and the children of undocumented immigrants, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan on Friday laid out his proposals to achieve a consensus in Congress and push through long-sought reform of the nation's immigration laws.

"Immigration is a good thing for this country. It is this country," Ryan told more than 300 people who attended the town hall meeting at St. Patrick's Catholic Church.

Ryan, the Janesville Republican who was the 2012 vice presidential candidate, has been a key behind-the-scenes player on the issue in Washington.

The U.S. Senate has already passed an immigration reform bill that included a 13-year path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million people who are in the country illegally.

"A lot of people are saying, just pass the Senate bill," Ryan said. "That's not what the House is going to do.

"I think we can make it better."

"I'm not doing this for politics," Ryan later said. "I think it's the right thing to do for the country."

Ryan said in the House, where the Republicans are in the majority, the intent "is to bring about five or six bills...to fix these problems in our immigration laws one step at a time in a comprehensive way."

Ryan said negotiations are underway to bring "these various bills to the floor of Congress."

"Tentatively, October, we're going to vote on these bills," Ryan said. "We're going to vote on a border security bill, we're going to vote on an interior enforcement bill, like the workplace verification and the visa tracking. We're going to vote on a legal immigration bill for visas, for agricultural workers, for skilled workers."