Democratic Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid supports legislation that would enable illegal aliens in the United States to remain in the country and attain citizenship, but a dozen years ago he sharply criticized proposals that could be construed as amnesty, introducing a tough immigration-reform bill that argued open borders increased the threat of terrorism and rewarded lawbreakers who placed a heavy burden on the criminal justice system, schools and social programs.
Ari Rabin-Havt, spokesman for Reid, told WorldNetDaily the Nevada senator has changed his views on immigration.
"He had a change of heart on this issue brought about by several meetings in the community with immigrants and a conversation with his wife," the spokesman said.
In an Aug. 5, 1993, news release unearthed today by the Drudge Report, Reid's office said he introduced the bill '[i]n response to increased terrorism and abuse of social programs by aliens."
His "Immigration Stabilization Act of 1993," he said, "overhauls the nation's immigration laws and calls for a massive scale-down of immigrants allowed into the country from approximately 800,000 to 300,000."
