[jgrubbs]

WASHINGTON (AP) - Millions of illegal migrant farmers, hotel maids and others working in the shadows of American society would be granted legal status and freed from the threat of deportation under an election-year proposal President Bush wants Congress to approve.

Bush called Mexican President Vicente Fox to brief him Wednesday morning in advance of Bush's speech later in the day at the White House.

"There are some jobs in this country, in our growing economy, that Americans are not filling," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. "That presents an opportunity for workers from abroad who want to work."

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040107/D7VU379O2.html

[jgrubbs]

"By dangling the prospect of legal status to some 8 million illegal immigrants now estimated to be in this country, about half of them Mexican, Bush was granting a top priority of the business community while making his most aggressive move yet to court Hispanic voters - the nation's fastest-growing electoral bloc."

We must oppose bilingual ballots. We need to insist that those who wish to take part in the electoral process and governance of this nation be required to read and comprehend basic English as a precondition of citizenship.