But Steven Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, pointed to Rep. Tom Tancredo's successful re-election campaign. The Colorado Republican started an "Immigration Reform Caucus" that opposes comprehensive reform, and he noted that some incoming Democrats campaigned against amnesty. The center supports reduced levels of immigration.

"There's no evidence immigration hurt Republicans," Camarota said. "The war in Iraq and corruption and President Bush's unpopularity brought them down."

While he acknowledged that Democrats may be more united in favor of comprehensive reform than Republicans, the support isn't unanimous, and Camarota suggested the new majority may not want to immediately delve into such a tough issue.

"It's very politically divisive and endangers the Democratic majority," he said. "There are so many fun and popular things to do, like raising the minimum wage, cutting student loans and embarrassing the president with an investigation."

However, Dan Restrepo, a fellow at the Center for American Progress, which supports comprehensive reform, said he's "more optimistic" now for workable reform, adding it should be addressed soon, because passage will get harder with time.

"We've never seen a comprehensive bill debated and voted on the House floor," he said. "We're much more likely to see a comprehensive bill reach the House floor for debate in 2007."

Rep. Jim Matheson, Utah's only Democratic congressman, agreed that people aren't happy with a lack of immigration reform. He said immigration may have a chance because it's an issue on which President Bush and Democratic congressional leadership may be able to find common ground.

"My crystal ball's never been perfect," Matheson said. "I think this issue represents an opportunity for a major piece of legislation to move through and become law. I wouldn't put Social Security reform in that category."

Matheson added that in addition to low-skilled workers, any immigration reform should look at meeting the needs of employers who need highly skilled workers.

Cannon said he's worried that a Democratic measure may be too restrictive on businesses, saying he'd rather focus on making it simple for employers to verify a worker's status than on punitive measures.

Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, said that to get his vote, immigration reform would have to address enforcement first. Bishop added that he's wary of talk of comprehensive measures.

"It's cleaner, easier and more defensible to look at it one issue at a time," he said.