New year, new deals. President Obama indicated in an CNN interview broadcast this morning that he "might accept an immigration deal that does not include a special pathway to citizenship for those in the country illegally." As reported in The New York Times:

'The question is, is there more that we can do in this legislation that gets both Democratic and Republican support,' he said, 'but solves these broader problems, including strengthening borders and making sure that we have a legal immigration system that works better than it currently does.'

Obama's interview comes off the release of a one-page memo titled "Standards for Immigration Reform" (via Politico here) that outlines the Republican House leadership plans. The memo recommends a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants, but not a special path to citizenship. A New York Times op-ed claims this "would effectively create a new stratum of society, a permanent second class of Americans." The Washington Post rounds up (mostly) favorable reactions by immigration reform groups to the memo.