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While few believe the next two years are going to see much in the way of big, consequential legislation, there is still hope among some Republicans that Congress can pass comprehensive immigration reform, and thus show Hispanic voters that the GOP is not intractably hostile to them. The other day, Senator Lindsey Graham said, If we dont at least make a down payment on solving the problem and rationally dealing with the 11 million, if we become the party of self-deportation in 2015 and 2016, then the chance of winning the White House I think is almost non-existent.

But in this coming Sundays New York Times Magazine, Marco Rubio the Republican most closely associated with comprehensive reform shows decidedly less urgency about the issue. Heres an excerpt from the interview note the last part in particular:

You suffered politically for trying to push a sweeping immigration overhaul with a pathway to citizenship. What lesson did you draw from that?

That there now exists an incredible level of mistrust on anything massive that the government does.

In your book, you propose a piecemeal approach starting with more border security and ending with permanent residency. Are you dropping the idea of citizenship for those who came here illegally?

Once you have permanent residency, which is a green card, existing law allows you to apply for citizenship.

What about members of Congress who say they cannot vote for anything that would allow a pathway to citizenship?

We might prohibit people who came here illegally and got green cards under this process from ever becoming citizens. And if thats what we have to do to get this thing passed, I would be open to it. But I dont think thats a wise thing to do.

Do you think the Republicans need to have some sort of immigration solution before 2016?

No. Those who argue that this will be a bonanza for Republicans are not telling the truth. Those who argue that we should do it for the purpose of politics are also mis-analyzing the issue.

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Sargent: Why GOP wont pass real immigration reform anytime soon