Gang of Eight immigration reformers raise head again

The Gang of Eight may be back, along with its widely-contested immigration reform bill.

The Gang of Eight is back, and this time its bipartisan members are vowing their widely contested immigration reform proposals – including one bearing the name of amnesty that had Sen. Marco Rubio rushing to distance himself from while he campaigned for president – will have a much clearer path to passage.

"I'll tell you what I'm going to do in 2017," said Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of the original gang members, in Politico. "I'm going to take the Gang of Eight bill out, dust it off and ask anybody and everybody who wants to work with me to make it better to do so."

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The bill, when it was brought forth years ago, sped through the Senate but then halted in the House, based in part on widespread opposition from constituents over a provision that opened the doors to citizenship for those in the country illegally – a Rubio-backed measure that critics denounced as amnesty.

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Part of the bill's appeal in the Senate side at least was it was brought forth by four Democrats and four Republicans, and offered an alternative to President Obama's more blanket amnesty approach to dealing with illegals. Sen. Chuck Schumer, who headed up the Gang of Eight, could in fact take the lead on the bill again, if Democrats win back the Senate in November. Why? A Democrat-controlled Senate would place him in the majority leader spot, and he's already vowed immigration reform would be one of his first priorities.

On top of that, congressional members face pressure to do something about immigration in the face of the Supreme Court's slap-down of Obama's unilateral move to legalize millions of aliens in the country.

"The hour [that] we can move it, we've got to move it," said Sen. Jeff Flake, another Gang of Eight member.

Speaker Paul Ryan is reportedly more open to pushing forward immigration reform than was John Boehner, former speaker, Politico reported. But whether Rubio will jump on the Gang of Eight train is another matter.

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On the presidential campaign trail, Rubio faced harsh criticisms and reminders of his bipartisan work on immigration reform, most notably perhaps, for his embrace of what many labeled as amnesty – but what he tried to define as something other than amnesty.

And now?

As Politico reported, Rubio's not yet on board.

"I don't believe that a comprehensive approach can pass, nor do I believe at this point, given everything that's transpired, that it's the right way forward," he said, to the news outlet.