Immigration Reform 2012: Marco Rubio Says GOP Needs to Move Into 21st Century

With Republicans showing new flexibility, Democrats should push for comprehensive reform, according to a Los Angeles Times editorial.

"A growing chorus of influential Republican voices, including evangelical leaders and, most recently, former President George W. Bush, are calling for swift action on immigration reform," the editorial said. "In the wake of November's election, in which Latino voters cast their ballots overwhelmingly for President Obama, GOP leaders in Congress have signaled their willingness to negotiate. That's welcome news, but finding a comprehensive fix for the deeply troubled system won't be easy."

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio told Politico on Wednesday that the GOP "needs to move into the 21st century."

Rubio said that the Republican Party need to apply its principles used in the 20th century into modern day.

"Unfortunately I think the Republican Party for many years allowed itself to be positioned as the anti-illegal [immigrants] party ... what we really need to be is the pro-legal [immigrants] party," he said. "We understand that legal immigration is not just an important part of our heritage, it's an important part of our future. We're not talking about plagues of locusts, we're talking about people."

About 11.2 million illegal immigrants reside in the U.S.

Before the election, the president said his biggest failure was not getting immigration reform in his first term.

In June, President Barack Obama announced that his administration will stop deporting undocumented immigrant youths who grew up in the United States and who meet certain requirements.

The president said he plans to make this a top priority in his final term as president.

Obama said an immigration reform plan should contain serious penalties for companies that are purposely hiring undocumented workers and taking advantage of them. He said there should be a pathway for legal status for those who are living in this country, are not engaged in criminal activity, are here simply to work.

House Speaker John Boehner said the country's immigration system was broken and said Obama had to take the lead.