I find that interesting.
I live in Texas. I'm afraid I've been close to this issue for a long, long time. My father-in-law is an importer with a business based in Laredo.
The single most annoying one was back in the 80s, with Reagan's amnesty. Promises of beefed up border security, and promises to crack down on enforcement, all to pass an amnesty.
They got the amnesty, and neither of the other 2 came true.
It's very simple -- Bush did not talk straight last night.
The truth is, we have a problem cuz the system is corrupt. When employers break the law, nothing is done.
If Bush wanted to win me, personally, back (arrogant of me, I know!) he would have had to talk straight, and admit that. Instead, he said nothing about how to crack down on the corruption. And he said he won't do anything without also getting more 'amnesty' (all the while pretending it wasn't amnesty).
My single biggest gripe about this is the 'guest worker' program. I'm a web developer by trade. We already have a 'guest worker' program, in the H1-b, and the like. The safeguarding laws are routinely ignored by employers, who use it just as a chance to get cheap, indentured workers. The industry is for it, and spread a lot of lobbyist money around to get it, and it has been a dismal failure for all but them.
This is almost certainly the same.
I personally don't think this is over. I think if the unrest in the C movement continues, then Bush will try again.
I remember that one. I thought you were talking about promises that Bush has made before. You can't hold Bush responsible for what Reagan did.