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Legalize the Illegals?

I want to express my gratitude for your brilliant article about immigration and the need for amnesty [June 18]. I have experienced the hardships of being an illegal immigrant at a young age in the U.S. I graduated from high school with top grades but could not attend college because of my status. There are thousands like me who graduate with the highest honors from high schools around the country but are forced to wait for a solution to our "situation." We will not lose hope. We will wait for a fair resolution to this problem.

Name Withheld ATLANTIC BEACH, FLA.

Undocumented immigrants who have managed to get to the U.S. and secure jobs have shown the greatest initiative, determination and desire to live and work in our country. What better qualifications can we ask for? Check their histories, of course, but certainly provide a process toward full citizenship.

Jerry Landis, BERKELEY, CALIF.

Nathan Thornburgh and TIME have done this country a huge disservice. Illegal immigration and amnesty are not about the amiable, hardworking Hispanic family commonly envisioned by the naive. They're about the failing schools that are trying to educate in more than one language, the clogged freeways filled with uninsured motorists, the overcrowded jails rife with Latino criminals and the bankrupt emergency rooms used for common ailments by the uninsured. They're about the U.S. being invaded by a foreign people who degrade our nation to Third World status and demand rights that even our citizens don't enjoy. I'm tired of our elected officials failing to protect our nation and will do what I can to vote out any of them who support anything short of enforcement of our borders, current employment regulations and present immigration laws. We need to be tougher, not weaker.

Jeremiah D. Jackson, SAN DIEGO

Mr. Thornburgh: Come and live in the real world, where crime is rising and Spanish-language gang graffiti are sprayed across the vinyl sidings of suburban homes. Label me racist, label me xenophobic, label me a bigot, but note that my skin is brown. I have seen my home destroyed by waves of illegal immigrants. The case for amnesty has failed for the past two decades.

Mark Ordonez, OMAHA, NEB.

Bloviating Bloggers

I found Joe Klein's "Beware the Bloggers' Bile" interesting [June 18]. But he lost me instantly when I read, "the left-liberals in the blogosphere are merely aping the odious, disdainful--and politically successful--tone that right-wing radio talk-show hosts like Rush Limbaugh pioneered." Has Klein ever really listened to Rush's show? He is far from rude and insulting to callers with a divergent view. He may be a blowhard, but that is definitely not the same thing by any stretch of the imagination. If Klein had used Michael Savage or Mark Levin as his example, I would have seen a much better connection.

Mike Nelson, MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF.