Immigration advocates are about to admit defeat on comprehensive reform and are looking at a much more incremental approach to immigration reform.

That comes after a soul searching analysis by many of the key figures and financial backers who now see that, given the country's mood, the prospect for comprehensive reform is pretty much non-existent.

The new plan that will likely emerge will take issues such as the Dream Act, which would legalize immigrants who were brought here as small children and seek to legalize them.

Immigrant rights campaigners desperately need a victory. The overall plan is not possible at this stage and they are right to focus on what is possible.

The current thinking is that a lame duck congress could pass the Dream Act which is supported by many moderate Republican senators.

Advocates for the Dream Act have stayed on board with the comprehensive effort to this point but are increasingly of the opinion that it is time to seek to pass their bill first.

It is hard to disagree with them. The worst cases of immigration law usually involve children and minors who have spent most of their lives in America and know no other home .

Through no fault of their own they were brought to this country at a young age and now are caught in a permanent limbo.

It makes perfect sense to try and pass that legislation first.

It is good to see that a long overdue sense of reality has finally seemed to enter the mindset of immigration campaigners.