Many Hispanic people are skeptical, wondering if Bush's talk of allowing undocumented workers already in this country to receive proper papers and stay openly is nothing more than a poker player's straight face covering up the fact that he only has a pair of twos.

In a worst-case scenario, Bush's latest proposal is nothing more than a bluff to get the support of Hispanic would-be voters come November, while doing nothing to make easier the lives of people already in this country who are contributing through their labor.

The Bush proposal sounds nice -- companies that have "inadvertently" hired non-citizens without visas would identify them publicly. Those non-citizen workers would get temporary permits allowing them to work and travel about, bring family members with them, and end the underground existence they are enduring in this country.

The proposal would provide incentives to get those people to eventually return to their home countries, although it would leave open the possibility of future chances to apply for U.S. citizenship.

Bush hopes such talk, along with his meeting this week in Mexico with Latin American leaders, makes Hispanic voters think he is sympathetic to their concerns. But skeptics are convinced that future chances for U.S. citizenship will be so limited that the proposal amounts to little more than allowing U.S. employers to get cheap labor legally.

People for the American Way, a Washington-based liberal group, is working with Hispanic activists and organized labor to produce television spots to air on Spanish-language stations across the country; saying the proposal "exploits" the workers it supposedly benefits.

"The primary beneficiary of President Bush's policy is corporate America, not hardworking immigrants who are supporting our economy," the group's president, Ralph Neas, said.

"With no new help for immigrants seeking to become legal residents and no workplace protections, this plan gives some workers temporary job security, but guarantees that millions of hardworking people will lose everything in the long run," Neas said.

Activists also believe such workers would be vulnerable to poor working conditions, since any complaints on their part would result in their being fired, thereby invalidating their work permits and causing their immediate deportation.

Perhaps I'm naïve. I want to believe this proposal, should it ever take effect, will benefit the estimated 8 million people currently in the United States without proper papers.

I like the idea of the so-called "illegal aliens," many of whom exist under false identities in this country to cover up their lack of documentation, suddenly being able to be themselves.

Allowing them to work and pay taxes under their own names (thereby making them entitled to the same benefits as other U.S. residents) is a good thing. Ending the secrecy would give the U.S. government better handle on just how many of these people are here, which benefits us all.

But the sincerity of Bush's offer is at question. Many Hispanics question the president's priorities.

A recent poll by the Pew Hispanic Center showed that while Bush is making "serious inroads" in gaining Hispanic voter support (37 percent of respondents, up from 27 percent last month), a full 70 percent think he should make the economy his top priority, not the "war on terrorism" or any other issue he has brought up.

There also are those who side with groups such as the Chicago-based Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, which said recently that a more concrete show of support by Bush for Hispanic interests would be to support a measure pending in Congress to allow non-citizens who qualify for college admission to receive financial aid.

I can already hear the angry voices of those people who want to view these newcomers as nothing more than criminals because they did not get their papers lined up in advance.

But then I think of my grandfathers, Ignacio Tejeda and Michael Vargas, who came to the United States from the Mexican cities of Guanajuato and Guadalajara respectively in the late 1920s because of promises of factory jobs north of the border.

The border back then was little more than a line in the dirt. Both men took the train from Mexico City into the United States, then had their transportation to their jobs handled by their employers, along with their work permits and eventual applications for U.S. citizenship.

They came because U.S. companies needed labor. Both were productive workers in this country. In fact, my Grandpa Vargas worked for the same steel mill on Chicago's South Side from the time he came to the United States in his late teens until he hit retirement age.

Their circumstances and desires are similar to those people coming to the United States today from Mexico or other countries. The only difference is that today's newcomers face a much more burdensome set of restrictions that seem more intended to keep out people who do not fit certain ethnic parameters.

Anything that allows today's newcomers to approach the openness by which my immigrant grandparents created a better life is a good thing -- if it's a legitimate offer.