Some, maybe all of Vermont's legislators got a curious e-mail the other day from something called USCitizensRights.org. The national group doesn't like the immigration reform deall that a bi-partisan group of US Senators and the White House hashed out last week, and it wants our Montpelier crew to get on the digital horn and let representatives in Congress know just how bad the deal is.

Here's some of what the e-mail, entitled Stop Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants in Vermont! said:

"USCitizensRights (USCR) and the citizens of Vermont and the US are ready to explode in anger over the awful teamwork of McCain, Kennedy, Reid, Specter, Feinstein, and others seeking to provide Amnesty to illegal aliens (under their S. 1348, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill)."

"USCR seeks to preserve, defend, and protect the constitutional rights of American citizens, who face threats and assaults against their wages, jobs, security, and rights, from Illegal Immigration. The US Constitution has NO rights for illegal aliens in the US. We reject the Kennedy-McCain Amnesty Bill, and petition ALL lawmakers of the US Congress to enforce US immigration law, and highlight the facts below to show why the US federal government must enforce immigration law."

From there, the USCR folks list a bunch of reasons why the deal is a bad one, followed by a list of Senators that our state legislators can contact.

Just two problems with all this.

One, most Vermonters know there are maybe 2,000 illegal (mostly) Mexican workers employed on dairy farms in the state, doing work that Vermonters apparently don't want to do. Without these workers, it could be curtains for the state's signature dairy biz. So suggesting a knee-jerk rejection of the deal isn't that easy for most of our lawmakers to do.

And two, the e-mail appeal got off on the wrong foot by beginning its message with the words "Dear Maine State Rep.:"

That's a sure way to a Vermont lawmaker's attention. Not.

-- Sam Hemingway