Evidence growing that Obama’s decision to wait on immigration is hurting Democrats

Activists in key states say it is increasingly difficult to register would-be Latino voters who would vote for Democrats because of unhappiness over the decision. Poll numbers for Obama and Democrats have also dropped farther among Hispanics than the population at large. One group has even launched a campaign against four Democratic senators who backed a GOP proposal to bar Obama from taking any executive action on immigration.

“The president has not helped us,” said activist Leo Murietta, 28, who is working to register Latino voters in Colorado for Mi Familia Vota. “People are disappointed. They wanted action, they wanted activity, they wanted movement.”…

“We would not wait until after November if it was an issue affecting the gay and lesbian community,” Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Ill.), a critic of Obama’s work on immigration, said at the conference Wednesday afternoon. “If this was about womens’ reproductive rights, if this was about the minimum wage, if this was about a series of other issues, the Democratic Party would come together.”

Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Tex.) said he’s found widespread frustration. “A lot of people understand there’s a political calculation, but those same people understand there’s a lot of people suffering because he didn’t act,” he said in an interview.