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As an immigrant from Chile, who emigrated to the U.S. legally, I must ask why our leaders are so hard-pressed to make sure that illegal Mexican workers, versus people from other countries, earn their green-card status even though they have broken the law. Might it be an attempt to get an early start on the next election by winning over the Hispanic vote?

The current Administration plan being pushed on Congress is irresponsible. If we, as a nation, are going to send the message that Mexican illegals can easily jump the line by breaking the law, we should open up the invitation to all of the 9 million illegal immigrants the Census Bureau reports are currently residing in the U.S.

Instead of granting blanket amnesty, we must address the needs of our legal immigrants to help them assimilate and realize the American dream. Census data continue to show that their needs are largely unmet. The high school dropout numbers for immigrants are devastating, and many adults are consigned to a low-wage ghetto because they have not learned elementary work-force survival skills, such as the ability to speak our common language - English.

We believe help should first be given to our fellow Americans who don't yet speak English so they can escape the 'linguistic welfare system' they have been barely surviving in, before blindly throwing open our doors to a select group who have broken our laws to get here.

U.S.ENGLISH is the nation's oldest, largest citizens' action group dedicated to preserving the unifying role of the English language in the United States. Founded in 1983 by the late Sen. S.I. Hayakawa of California, U.S.ENGLISH now has more than 1.5 million members nationwide.