A: "One bite at a time."

Funny, eh? Not if you're the elephant:

Arturo Sarukhan, a top official in Mexico's foreign ministry [assistant to Jorge "propagating militant activities" Castaneda -lw], said that after Mexico's failure to win a comprehensive package of immigration reforms from Bush, it is lobbying in Washington for important incremental steps. "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time," he said.

Here's the consolation bite Mexico wants to take:

Pushed by the Mexican government, the Bush administration is working on a Social Security accord that would put tens of thousands of Mexicans onto the Social Security roster and send hundreds of millions of dollars in benefits south of the border.

I'm all for giving their rightful benefits to legal workers who paid into our system. What I'm worried about is a) attempts to take advantage of the system, and b) their admitted attempts at incrementalism.

You might also find this article interesting:

An analysis from the Center for Immigration Studies finds compelling evidence that an enormous gap exists between the American people and opinion leaders on the issue of immigration - a gap that seems to be increasing... While 53 percent of the public said [Bush's] handling of foreign policy overall was excellent or good, on immigration only 27 percent said his handling of immigration was good or excellent; moreover, 70 percent rated Bush as poor or fair on immigration. the lowest rating he received on any foreign policy-related issue.

Someone alert the Mayberry Machiavellis.