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Clashing immigration goals worry activists

January 26, 2007 (1 min read)

"President Bush's State of the Union call for assimilation - but not amnesty - for illegal immigrants could present America with conflicting goals if Congress is not careful, some immigrant rights activists fear. If Americans want immigrants to assimilate, then it doesn't make sense - as Bush seemed to suggest in his speech Tuesday - to create a system to require millions of residents to wait for a protracted period of time to even be allowed to apply for U.S. citizenship, said Francisco Estrada, director of public policy for the Sacramento office of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. "It's a contradiction to say, 'We want you to assimilate as fast as possible, but we want you to wait as long as 10 or 15 years before you can even become a citizen,' " said Estrada, whose state - California - has the most to gain or lose with Washington's decisions on immigration reform." Sacramento Bee, Jan. 25, 2007.


http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/113290.html