Yes I realize there was an amnesty. I alluded to that in my comments. The reality was that those 1 million people I mentioned had come here over decades, not one year as takes place today.
For the record, I did not agree with the amnesty then, and still don't today. That amnesty did spur increased levels of illegals IMO. I think Reagan was wrong to do what he did, and history bears that out.
Now, granting even 1 illegal amnesty is wrong in my book, but attempting to grant amnesty to 1 million illegals that came here over three to five decades is none the less vastly different than granting amnesty to 15 million plus that came here in 14 years.
I've never made the claim that Reagan was a perfect conservative, but Bush does have a very clear example that should drive him away from the insane idea he's come up with. Reagan didn't have that example to my knowledge, and the fact still remains that there was supposed to be proposals in his amnesty plan that would prevent further illegal incursions into our nation.
Three subsequent presidents have screwed the pooch. And if you wish to say Reagan did too, I won't disagree.
I guess you could even make the argument that had the U.S. Congress put some teeth into the enforcement provisions of the amnesty bill, then we might have actually seen a reduction in the amount of illegal immigrants who remained inside of American borders.
The crux of the problem remains that no one is willing to punish the gigantic corporate behemoths-such as Tyson Foods-that regularly flout the employment provisions of this law.
I don't blame either Reagan or President Bush for their immigration policies. It's my impression that Republicans like them sincerely believe in an open door policy.
What really irks me is the Wall St. Journal faction of the GOP, which foists this crap on us with no firmer convictions than the power of the almighty dollar.
This venal, self-interested type of behavior is what is truly destroying our country.