Dear Editor:

Instead of addressing the problem of illegal immigration in a sound way, President Obama and others call for "comprehensive immigration reform."This misleading title should be called what it is - amnesty for illegal immigrants. The United States tried that in the mid-1980s. It failed. As all should remember, the amnesty in the 80's was supposed to be the last.It was supposed to reform the system in such a way that an influx of illegal immigrants could never occur again. Over 20 years later, we find ourselves again with millions of illegal immigrants in the United States that have not only skirted our laws to enter and remain here but that also that place an unfair cost on taxpayers of federal, state, and local governments that gets into the billions each year.Why is it allowed to occur? Big business and big labor. Big business and particularly corporate agri-businesses thrive on low-cost, immigrant labor.Unions like AFSCME and UFCW don't care about green cards; they care about union dues cards. These two groups, big business and big labor, are driving forces in American politics and as such, they do their best to kill any meaningful immigration reform legislation. Cheap labor for big business and union dues for big labor seem to be all either group cares about.I have no doubt that Lou Barletta will fight every attempt at another amnesty and that he will continue to fight illegal immigration as he did in Hazleton, I only hope that other members of Congress will work with him to reform the immigration system in a way that contributes to a stronger, more robust economy as well as a more equitable society where taxpayers don't have to pay billions each year for services to tax-evaders.We don't need another amnesty as President Obama wants, we need meaningful reform.Mary Ann HaasScranton