Reid delays effort to halt immigrant deportation

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., has delayed his effort to pass a law protecting immigrants who are losing their jobs and face deportation.

As Congress came to a close this week, Reid said he had switched strategies in an emergency effort to stop the deportation of immigrants who may have been unfairly treated by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Bills are floundering in Congress that would reverse a 1996 rule that bans courts from hearing cases of immigrants -- an estimated 18,000 in Nevada -- who say bureaucratic snafus or shyster immigrant services cost them their right to work and ultimately become citizens.

"I'm having trouble getting the bill passed right now," Reid said.

It might be faster to request that the Department of Justice analyze the Nevada cases, determine how many involve fraud and devise a solution, Reid said. Attorney General Janet Reno would have to agree.

"What we're trying to get out of it now is a study," Reid said. "I'm not trying to protect those who cheated the system to get here. I'm trying to protect those who have been cheated themselves. My whole point is to give these people a fair hearing."

The study would take 150 days, Reid said. Reid pledged to continue pushing next year for a law that would allow the courts to intervene in cases.

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