The 2009 political winds gave Democrats a substantial majority in the House and a filibuster -proof Senate, yet a year of inter-party bickering left the President empty handed when it came to health care legislation, cap-and-trade and immigration reform.

“People are angry and disillusioned,” Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill) said in a recent interview.

Gutierrez criticized the Obama administration for not trying harder for legislation that would grant amnesty for most immigrants. The Illinois Congressman and author of 2010 comprehensive immigration reform legislation conceded that he short at least 18 votes in the House and therefore unable to move the bill he sponsored.

Gutierrez made a trip this week to Los Angeles to discuss amnesty and to headline a town hall meeting at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church, known as “La Placita,” which has acknowledged its sanctuary standing for illegal immigrants.

In an interview with The Los Angeles Times, Gutierrez said that Obama’s failure to push immigration reform was symbolized by his State of the Union address last Wednesday, “when he devoted 38 of about 7,300 words to the issue.”

“The throwaway line,” Gutierrez said, was the final straw for many activists. Many hard-line immigration activists have been perturbed by the Obama Administrations continued deportations and enforcement actions that haven’t led to any real progress on reform. [1] Keep reading