Immigration reform is dead for real this time

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) on Tuesday suffered a stunning primary defeat, and as he went down so, too, did immigration reform.

There's been much speculation that Cantor lost in part because of his support, however flimsy it was, for immigration reform. His opponent, political neophyte Dave Brat, hammered him for endorsing "amnesty" for undocumented immigrants. And though the role immigration reform played in tanking Cantor may be a bit overblown, House Republicans will assuredly be even more reticent to touch the lightning rod issue lest they meet the same fate.

We've heard time and time again that immigration reform was dead, only to see lawmakers hint at a piecemeal resuscitation. But as Roy Beck, head of the group Numbers USA, which opposes the immigration reform bill, put it to CBS: "It's really dead now."

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