at least I heard back from his office.

March 13, 2007
Dear Mr. and Mrs.

Thank you for contacting me to share your views on
immigration. I appreciate hearing from you.

Immigration is a very complex and important issue facing our
nation. While I am opposed to illegal immigration and believe our
immigration laws need to be firmly enforced, I also believe that we must
reform our broken immigration system. Immigration reform should be
tough on lawbreakers, fair to taxpayers, and practical to implement. I
do not believe it is practical to deport an estimated 12 million
undocumented immigrants.

I believe reform must be comprehensive. We must secure our borders. We
must effectively enforce our immigration laws in the workplace and
harshly penalize employers who hire individuals not authorized to work,
thereby eliminating the primary draw for people to come to this country
illegally. We should create a new worker program, to help shift the
illegal flow across the border into legal channels. And we must create
a path to legalization for the undocumented immigrants currently in this
country who pay fines for being here illegally, pass criminal background
checks, learn English, work for several years, and go to the back of the
line. I believe focusing on enforcement alone has not worked, will
continue to compound existing problems, and will make our nation less
secure.

On January 4, 2007, I introduced the Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Act of 2007 (S. 9). This legislation expresses the sense of Congress
that the Senate and the House of Representatives should pass, and the
President should sign, legislation to amend the Immigration and
Nationality Act to provide for more effective border and employment
enforcement, to prevent illegal immigration, and to reform and
rationalize avenues for legal immigration. S. 9 will soon be considered
by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Please be assured that I have noted your views and suggestions about
immigration reform. I understand how important this issue is to
Nevadans. I have studied this issue closely, listening to experts on
every side of the debate. Unfortunately, the House and Senate were
unable to reach a compromise on immigration legislation during the 109th
Congress, but I hope that the President and Congress will work together
to enact comprehensive immigration reform during the 110th.

Again, thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with me.
For 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