Top conservative wonks were optimistic about immigration reform. Not anymore.

Hoover is filled largely with what you could very accurately call Reagan Republicans, as evidenced by their affinity for the low-tax, low-regulation policies of the 1980s and by a certain Reaganesque optimism that Washington is still capable of finding big compromises to solve big problems. In several interviews in offices here this week, economists and political scientists from the think tank frequently suggested that immigration could be ripe for such a compromise.

It may have been wishful thinking. Conservative activists have opposed previous compromises on immigration, including one that passed the Senate last year by a wide margin. Republican candidates, including Romney in the 2012 primaries, have bludgeoned opponents with their support for measures that could lead to citizenship for the 12 million immigrants who have entered America illegally.

Still, there was general agreement among many of the thinkers here that Republicans could — and should — rally around a series of immigration measures that stop short of the full path to citizenship that was contained in the Senate bill. Those measures would include enhanced border security, increased visas for high-skilled workers and, at most, a potential for legal status — but never citizenship — for those 12 million immigrants.