LITTLETON, Colo. (February 8, 2013)--Some Republicans have been softening their tone on immigration since November, after years of tacking right to appeal to grass-roots activists who dominate voting in the primaries.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, for example, opposed the DREAM Act, which would have provided a path to citizenship for certain immigrants brought here as youths, but on Tuesday, the conservative leader backed that idea.

Last fall, GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney won only 27 percent support from Hispanics and even less from Asians.

An AP-GFK poll last month showed that 62 percent of voters wanted to let otherwise law-abiding illegal immigrants eventually become citizens, up 12 percentage points from 2010.