Obama, who won 71 percent of the Latino vote, said during his first news conference after winning reelection that he expected to have a comprehensive legislative bill introduced in Congress “very soon after my inauguration” on Jan. 20.

But that was before a gunman killed 26 people, including 20 children, at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, prompting Obama to declare that he will use all the powers of his office to reduce gun violence. Last week, the president appointed Vice President Biden to head a commission to develop new proposals that Obama will “push without delay” in January.

Adding further complications to the timetable over the White House’s immigration strategy is the deadlocked negotiations over the looming “fiscal cliff” that could drag into the new year. Asked last week about Obama’s increasingly bloated agenda, White House press secretary Jay Carney declined to rank priorities.