Dear Mr. O'Reilly,

Last week you read a letter from a viewer who said that the solution to the immigration problem is to enforce the laws already on the books. As someone who retired as an immigration officer with over 20 years of service (Border Patrol Agent, Deportation Officer and Supervisory Detention and Deportation Officer), I let your snarky retort about immigration officers kicking in doors slide. Then I started talking to friends and acquaintances...

Your mischaracterization of what Border Patrol Agents and ICE enforcement officers do on a daily basis was taken as gospel by some of the people I talked to who are not in law enforcement and only seem to know what we do from TV shows and newscasts. Currently, ICE is not enforcing immigration law as it was or was trying to do when I served. In fact, last year ICE agents sued the administration over the order to not put people in proceedings.

In an April 24th ruling Federal Judge Reed O'Conner wrote: "The court finds that DHS does not have discretion to refuse to initiate removal proceedings," While the case is far from over, it does indicate that the plaintiffs (the ICE agents) are likely to win on the merits as only Congress and not the administration can write law.

The current Senate bill is a new version of Simpson-Mazzoli on steroids. It would be a service to your viewers if you investigated how that 1986 law signed by President Reagan failed to prevent the jump from an then estimated 4-5 million illegal aliens to the current estimates of nearly 15 million. Perhaps bringing ICE union president Chris Crane in for an extended interview might be helpful.

Moreover, you do owe an apology to the agents, officers and their families for your characterization of how they do their best (despite the efforts of both political parties) to enforce our nation's laws and keep us safe. Remember, the fact that we didn't enforce our laws as written, left us vulnerable to attack by terrorists who overstayed their visas.

Name withheld.