But another Tucson resident from Guaymas considers binationality and the movement for Mexican voting rights in the United States part of a sinister effort. Hector Ayala sees them as part of the reconquista, an attempt by some Mexicans and their descendants to reconquer the land Mexico lost to the United States in the mid-1800s.

Ayala, who led the successful voter initiative against bilingual education in 2000, also considers these changes dangerous to American democracy.
"They think they have two roots, one in America and one in Mexico. I think it renders them incapable of performing well as a citizen of either nation," said Ayala, an English teacher at Cholla High School.
The issue is becoming less theoretical and more real as Mexicans in the United States press the Mexican Congress for the right to vote in Mexican elections. Already in 2000, three candidates for the Mexican presidency campaigned in the United States, hoping to influence family members of voters in Mexico.

In March, two delegations, including one that Zaragoza joined, traveled to Mexico City to lobby for voting rights. They found broad support for the idea, especially in voting for president, said Raul Ross and Jorge Mujica, two Chicago residents who led the delegations. But support is shakier for creating congressional districts outside Mexico's borders that would give representation to all Mexicans living abroad.

The biggest obstacle, Mujica said, is "the uncertainty of the two main Mexican political parties, because they don't know who we are going to vote for."
But the expectation that voting and campaigning will occur in the United States is strong enough that Sen. Hector Larios, a member of Mexico's Congress from Sonora, is coming to Tucson May 3. While here, he plans to help his National Action Party, or PAN, start cultivating support among