Latinos and immigrants participate in a rally on immigration reform in front of the White House on Nov. 8, 2012, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

(MSNBC) -- With the fiscal cliff mess resolved, albeit temporarily, is immigration next on Congress' agenda?

On Wednesday, January 2, as the dust settled around the cliff, the Obama administration issued an executive order that aims to ease the process for direct relatives of citizens to stay in the country while awaiting a visa. It is the latest executive order targeted to reform immigration without passing a bill in Congress; in August, the administration began halting the deportation of young people brought to the U.S. illegally as children.

While gun control, taxes, and the fiscal cliff mess have dominated headlines, huge Latino turnout in the last election has not been lost on legislators and it's only a matter of time before there is legislative efforts to reform immigration. Republicans have voiced support in tackling immigration, but so far have only pledged piece-meal, zero-sum reform and special interests, like anti-immigration group Numbers USA, appear to be as strong as ever. And on a rare appearance on Meet the Press Sunday, Obama suggested that an immigration overhaul was a "top priority" for his next four years.  

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