[ez]

"I believe in the idea of amnesty for those who have put down roots and lived here, even though sometime back they may have entered illegally," Ronald Reagan said in 1984.

[ez]

Up to you if you want to add this to the ping list.

[BarnacleCenturion]

You are not going to help Newt by pushing this BS.

[TigersEye]

No mention in the article that the Dems scuttled funding for the security part of that deal.

• Deport illegal aliens on contact with LE.
• Enforce the law vigorously on employers of illegals.
• Strong border security. Build the physical fence and use high-tech surveillance.
• Eliminate entitlements for illegal aliens except for true emergency care.
• End the "anchor baby" policy.

Do those things and illegal aliens will self-deport rather quickly and pay for the trip themselves.

[GeronL]

It failed.

It FAILED.

You cannot bargain with leftists!

That is the lesson we learned.

Hey, rape someone long enough and you become family! is a retarded idea.

[jessduntno]

“I believe in the idea of amnesty for those who have put down roots and lived here, even though sometime back they may have entered illegally,” Ronald Reagan said in 1984.

We made a deal with some of these people, what, 25 years ago? Ahh screw them, let’s pack em up and send them back to ... nothing. It’s all gone now.

Wait aminute...25 years ago? Isn’t that....

[hinckley buzzard]

By Reagan's own accounting, Simpson pestered him about this bill for five long years. God only knows what interests the old ratbastard phoney was serving at the expense of his president. (You think it was a coincidence that obama hauled his senile ass out of obscurity to serve on the "debt reduction" panel?)

Of course, the bill as signed was complete with safeguards which were then ignored. Simpson knows this but has been a degenerate liar so long he may actually have come to believe his own lies.

[cripplecreek]

30 million + illegals only contribute to the growth of government. After all, congressional districts are set based on census numbers and comes to somewhere in the range of 50 congressional seats that need not exist.

A vote for amnesty is a vote for a permanent democrat majority and is frankly treasonous.

[re_nortex]

Babe Ruth didn’t always hit home runs.

[onyx]

Let’s get one thing perfectly clear:

“IF reelected,” the Marxist will initiate full amnesty for all illegal aliens here and all who want to enter through our wide open Southern border, which will never be secured under his watch.

It’s imperative that we elect TEA Party Patriots to the majority in both the US HOUSE & SENATE.

Also remember, that not one vote has been cast in any primary.

[Sacajaweau]

The US Courts say we MUST offer them education k-12. Our hospital emergency room posts a no one turned down sign (NY).

There are millions of people in this country who are not citizens and don't want to be. What benefit is there to citizenship?

We are no longer a mixing pot. We are all sitting around the pot...dipping as needed.

[kenavi]

Salvadoreans were a primary beneficiary of Reagan's bounty.

It provided a safety release valve for Salavadorean society, which was torn in a conflict between oligarchists and Communists. I believe that our amnesty was a major factor in turning the tide against the Communists.

The influx of so many hard-working people turned the tide in many inner cities. However their children got co-opted by ghetto culture and drug dealing resulting in the Maratuchas and other gangs.

Many times our choice is between two bad options...

[Jacquerie]

Sorry. Your source is tainted. Independent verification of this story is needed before I believe a word. It is obviously designed to prop up Hussein.

[Paperdoll]

Ronald Reagan did make a few mistakes. We should not base future decisions on them. The people have sp9oken loud and clearly, NO AMNESTY! With Newt buying Hispanic votes, he is no different than Obama in my book.

[greene66]

I remember the very day hearing on CNN about Reagan’s amnesty passing. Loved Reagan, but thought it was a terrible, terrible mistake. Indeed it was. Even more than I could have ever imagined back then. Another amnesty will be the end of the country for good.

[SoConPubbie]

"I believe in the idea of amnesty for those who have put down roots and lived here, even though sometime back they may have entered illegally," Ronald Reagan said in 1984.

So?

Even Reagan admitted to his son Michael that the Immigration Reform bill was the biggest mistake of his political career.

[newnhdad]

the only thing RR did wrong was to trust democrats to honor their word. Kinda like the current leaders hoping the democrats would deal in good faith on the “stuper committee”. Trust the democrats as far as you can throw Nadler.

Anyone that thinks the democrats will even act in good faith gets the failure they deserve.

[La Lydia]

This tells only half the story. The 1986 bill included a number of provisions that would have radically reduced the number of illegals coming here: that was the bargain Reagan drove: amnesty for certain illegals, and Congress was going to impose measures that would curtail the continued invasion. But it didn’t work, and it didn’t work for two reasons: 1) Reagan failed to realize the Congress was (is) unscrupulous and had no intention of living up to the enforcement and border security parts of the deal and 2) Reagan failed to remember that you get more of any kind of behavior that you reward. Total FAIL.

[Scotsman will be Free]

I thought that Reagan did a great job as prez. Not a perfect job. He screwed up by signing that bill. The proof? Look how many illegal aliens we have now.

[Darren McCarty]

Reagan was a very good president. He isn't God and shouldn't be treated as such. I'm also not a Reagan Republican. I'm my own Republican.

Amnesty was a mistake. Reagan was wrong. What happened after 1986 with illegal immigration. There was more and more of it. Even Cesar Chavez was strongly against illegal immigration. It undercut wages and his labor movement.

We need to go after the employers who hire illegals, even up to the point of possibly piercing their corporate veil or piercing LLC liability. Make it cost more than it is worth, and they will be reduced, go home, and hopefully do things the rightway to get into the US and become Americans.

[montag813]

Reagan was dead wrong. He acted emotionally. It was a tremendous mistake. Had Reagan thought it through logically, he would have anticipated that MILLIONS more than predicted would bum rush the border to get amnesty. He would have realized how many of them would have babies, push schools and hospitals to the breaking point, create Spanish-only towns throughout CA and TX, leave hundreds of thousands on welfare, WIC, food stamps, Medicare, etc.

None of that mattered. We were "a nation of immigrants". Illegals "shared our values". Etc. And anyone who disagreed was simply racist. So we got amnesty, and a demographic disaster ensued. Gingrich was all for it. And made it even worse as Speaker in the 1990s. And now he wants even MORE amnesty, as did McCain. No thanks. I will never support another such candidate.