3 MILLION MEXICANS AWAIT FORMAL RECOGNITION

Working its way through the Bush administration is a plan, neither fully complete nor formally announced as yet, to extend amnesty to as many as 3 million illegal aliens of Mexican descent.

We applaud the impulse, even if not -- at least until it can be reviewed more closely -- the details of the policy.

One may begin with the commonplace observation that we are a nation of immigrants. Nearly all Americans can trace either all or most of our heritage to a decision made by some ancestors or ancestors to head for these shores seeking a better life.

Proceed from this historical fact to certain contemporary realities. Millions of aliens continue to come to America each year, some legally and others illegally. Objectors to any proposal such as the president is considering need to understand that there are at least 3 million illegals of Mexican descent, and perhaps far more, already here. They simply aren't going back, and there isn't a whole lot the government can do about it.

Nor is it clear there should be. It is also a fact that these immigrants are performing jobs demanded by the American economy, in many cases jobs that most native-born Americans won't fill. It is true all over America, but especially in the Southwest and throughout the West, that jobs as gardeners, construction laborers, maintenance and lawn workers are filled by those recently arrived here. To state the matter bluntly, the employer who has need of such labor to do these jobs doesn't much care what the legal status of his hire, as long as that person will show up and work. And the evidence is that they do, by the millions.

The fact that the proposal has political implications hasn't escaped notice. Former Democratic National Committee chairman David Wilhelm immediately recognized it as such. Hispanics are the fastest-growing minority group in America, and their votes are very much up for grabs. They are potentially susceptible to appeals from the first Spanish-speaking American president. All the more so if his ability to speak their native tongue is backed up by a sound policy, well thought-out and firmly executed.

Speaking of the language, our enthusiasm for more-or-less open borders is contingent upon immigrants' learning English as soon as possible after they come here. Jettison the bilingual education requirements. Learn English.

Welcome to America.