I am writing in support of our Catholic bishop encouraging us in immigration reform. I think we are all intelligent enough to think about this and healthcare reform. It is my belief that we need both.

The bishop seemed most concerned about the breaking up of families by sending a mother or father back to Mexico leaving the family in crisis. Are these arrests and deportations handled in a humane way? Are some of us nervous when our Hispanic fellow human beings come out of the fields where they pick lettuce and strawberries for us, educate themselves and become Supreme Court justices and astronauts?

I am for a public option in health care with every person in our country receiving quality healthcare. It is my understanding that the profits from the combined 10 largest publicly traded insurance companies rose by 428 percent from 2000 to 2007. So logically, you would only want to maintain the status quo if you own some stock in one or more of these insurance companies. Then you would make some profits and come out ahead.

The rest of us will not come out so good. We provide a lawyer for every criminal. I think we provide healthcare for them too. Shouldn’t we provide a doctor for every American?

I don’t think the actual bill has come out of congress, so how do we know what is in it? We have heard proposals, rumors and some outright lies. Maybe our congressman will have some town hall meetings and enlighten us. I mean with the truth. Some of them have not done such a good job of that in their town hall meetings.

Patricia L. Boyle