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December 11, 2008


Dear Mr. x:



Thank you for contacting me regarding immigration. I appreciate hearing from you.

Nearly everyone agrees that immigration is one of the most pressing issues facing our nation, but we are often divided on the most appropriate way to address this problem. In forming my opinions on this issue, I have traveled to the border and had extensive conversations with many of the leading experts in the field. I have also met with state and local officials in Nevada to hear their ideas on the best way to reform our immigration system.

I have been a strong supporter of protecting the rule of law and of immigration reform that is tough on lawbreakers, fair to taxpayers and practical to implement. Immigration reform should not only strengthen our borders against terrorists, drug traffickers and illegal entrants, but should also make our laws more realistic so that they can be more effectively enforced.



Throughout my career in Congress, I have strongly supported measures to tighten the security of the border by adding border patrol agents and providing additional funding. Last year, I supported a measure to add an additional $3 billion in emergency spending for border security in the Fiscal Year 2008 Homeland Security Appropriations bill and worked hard to shepherd this measure through the legislative process.

I believe this funding is important and hope that it will go far toward helping our hard-working border patrol agents to get control of our broken borders. However, I believe it will be difficult to truly secure the border unless we address the reasons that compel immigrants to come to the United States illegally. For example, many believe that there are insufficient channels for workers to come here legally to work or to join immediate family and that we will be unable to stop illegal immigration unless we rectify these problems.

In addition to border enforcement, I also believe we need tougher enforcement against employers who knowingly hire individuals who are not authorized to work. This is why I strongly support programs like E-Verify that are designed to ensure that employers only hire those who are legally authorized to work in the United States. Most recently, provisions reauthorizing and providing ongoing funding for E-Verify have been included as part of the Continuing Resolution package, the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, H.R. 2638. This bill will keep the federal government funded until March 2009. The bill would also appropriate funds for Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection to secure our ports and borders by hiring 3,000 additional border patrol agents and funding appropriate technology and infrastructure on our borders. After the contents of this bill were negotiated by members of the House and Senate, the House passed H.R. 2638 on September 24, 2008 and the Senate did so on September 27. The President signed this legislation into law (P.L. 110-239) on September 30, 2008.



Stronger border security is an important first step toward fixing our broken immigration system, and I will continue to work toward the enactment of sensible immigration reform.



Please be assured that as I continue my work in the U.S. Senate I will keep your thoughts in mind. Again, thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with me. If you would like more information about my work for Nevada, my role in the United States Senate Leadership, or to subscribe to regular e-mail updates on the issues that interest you, please visit my Web site at http://reid.senate.gov. I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.



My best wishes to you.



Sincerely,


HARRY REID

United States Senator

Nevada





HR:st