WASHINGTON — When the House Republican conference discussed and released a set of “standards” to govern possible legislation on immigration reform at their retreat last week, it was a welcome break in the clouds for the scores of immigration activists who have waited patiently for years for action on Capitol Hill...

Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners, a Christian social-justice organization, is convinced that reform is inevitable.

“Immigration reform is going to pass — there’s no doubt about that. We’re not going to deport 11 million people,” he said. “The question is, how much longer must we wait, and how much more suffering will be inflicted on so many more people?”

The next weeks and months will be filled with renewed activity, as a coalition of law-enforcement officials, the faith community and business and labor groups come together to get reform across the finish line, he said.

“Washington, D.C., is the most dysfunctional city in the country. We’re known for our political conflict. Immigration reform has the chance to really be an exception — an exception to our practices of political conflict,” he added. “We’ll fix our politics by fixing our broken immigration system.”