Rand Paul: Immigration reform needs conservatives Associated Press Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Updated 12:12 pm, Tuesday, March 19, 2013 WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. Rand Paul said Tuesday that illegal immigrants should be allowed to become U.S. taxpayers and ultimately get a chance to become citizens, a significant step for the Tea Party favorite amid growing Republican acceptance of the idea. Paul spoke a day after a Republican National Committee report called on the GOP to support comprehensive reform, though without specifying whether it should include a pathway to citizenship, which is decried by some conservatives as amnesty. [...] a bipartisan group of senators is nearing agreement on sweeping legislation to overhaul the nation's immigration policy, an effort that could get a boost from Paul's stance. Underscoring the political risks conservative Republicans face in embracing citizenship for illegal immigrants, Paul never used the word "citizenship" in his warmly received 17-minute speech, and aides sought to emphasize that his focus is on border security and on getting illegal immigrants into a probationary legal worker status. Latino voters overwhelmingly backed President Barack Obama last year, helping seal his re-election, and Paul said the GOP needs to reverse that trend or risk "permanent minority status." The Senate group aims to secure the border, improve legal immigration and boost workplace enforcement, as well as create a pathway to citizenship. In year two of his plan, illegal immigrants would begin to be issued temporary work visas, and would have to wait for an unspecified period of time in a probationary legal status before getting green cards.