WASHINGTON — Despite a defiant tone, immigrant youth leaders gathered here on Monday gave signs that they could consider supporting a Republican compromise proposal offering a path to citizenship for young people but not for other immigrants in the country illegally.

During a visit to Capitol Hill, the leaders struck a tough public posture.

“We will fight for the ultimate protection from deportation for our families through full access to citizenship,” said Carlos Rojas, 20, a leader from Boston for United We Dream, a national organization of undocumented immigrants who came here when they were children.

“We will hold the line where no one else will hold the line,” he said, drawing chants and cheers from young people who filled a House meeting room.

But behind the demands were signs of a willingness to consider something less than a direct path to citizenship for all the estimated 11.7 million immigrants in the country illegally, given that many Republican lawmakers remain reluctant even to take up the thorny issue this year, and that deportations by the Obama administration continue to be felt in immigrant neighborhoods.