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April 4, 2014|12:49 pm

Rep. James Lankford (R-Okla.) speaking with The Christian Post, Washington, D.C., April 1, 2014.

WASHINGTON Immigration reform is unlikely to get passed this year in the U.S. House, Rep. James Lankford (R-Okla.) told The Christian Post this week. He also spoke about his efforts to combat human trafficking.

"I don't anticipate taking up anything on immigration before we get to the [November] election," Lankford said.

Last year, the House Judiciary Committee developed four bills addressing immigration. Then in January, House Republican leaders released a documentStandards for Immigration Reformthat included a path to legal status for current unauthorized immigrants.

Proponents of immigration reform were hopeful that legislation would pass this year. About a week later, though, Speaker of the House John Boehner announced there would be a pauseon immigration reform because his caucus does not trust President Barack Obama to enforce the law if they pass it.

With immigration reform, Lankford said his "beginning point" is "every person is created in the image of God and has value. Every person. Every person is to be treated with respect.

"Every person is also a citizen of some country. In their country they have rights and responsibilities, in every other country they are a guest."

Lankford added that there is not widespread support for, and he is opposed to, an amnesty program, but that does not mean there should be absolutely no path for some who are currently unauthorized immigrants.

"Take the 11 million who are here illegally, does that mean that all 11 million cannot be citizens? No," he said. "I think there have been some people here who have been engaged, follow laws, all except for the entry laws, which is a misdemeanor, ... . What do you do in those situations? ... What do you do with an infant? There's a lot of questions we need to process through."

Excerpt from:

James Lankford Interview, Part 1: Immigration Reform Unlikely This Year