More politician blah blah but thought I would post:

Thank you for your email regarding illegal immigration. As an immigrant, I can identify with the desire to come to this country. While growing up, I had a dream to come to America. And since then, I have seen firsthand that the United States - a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws - is the most generous nation in the world.

But our generosity toward people who want to immigrate to America and work hard cannot come at the expense of securing our international borders. The first order of business for the federal government is to safeguard our borders. Last year, I asked officials in Washington, D.C., to better fund these security requirements. As a result of my efforts, the federal government has made substantial progress in increasing the number of Border Patrol agents and expanding the technology used in border security.

The cost of incarcerating illegal aliens who commit crimes is estimated at $750 million each year, an expense California taxpayers continue to bear. I have urged, and will continue to seek, more federal funding from President Bush and the United States Congress to reimburse our State for the cost of incarcerating criminal aliens. My efforts last year led to a $100 million dollar increase for the federal State Criminal Alien Assistance Program.

I also called on our nation's officials to attack the problem, not the people, in crafting a comprehensive immigration policy. I support efforts to ensure that our businesses have the employees they need but have been unable to find in our existing workforce and that immigrants are treated with the respect they deserve. While I oppose amnesty, I support a common-sense temporary worker program so that every person in our nation is documented.

Immigration is an important issue that deeply affects California, and I thank you for writing. I value the comments of people like you who care about the future of our great State.

Sincerely,

Arnold Schwarzenegger