No, but the granting of amnesty certainly made the problem worse.
These are the reasons I give Reagan a pass, his administration’s policies worked at the time
So you're claiming that no (or few) illegal immigrants came across the border in Reagan's time? I'll need some evidence if I'm to buy that.
I won’t give President Bush a pass because the problems were serious when he took office
And it wasn't serious when Reagan granted amnesty? We disagree on that. (Your own words claim that changes Carter made 'started a flood', so obviously the problem was serious then.)
Sorry, Reagan and other previous Presidents get as much blame for this mess as Bush.
The only proof I have that Reagan’s policies seemed to work while he was in office is my own observation. During Carter illegals and crime were out of control on the border. After Reagan had been in office a couple of years the illegal traffic and crime slowed down and then began to pick up again during the first Bush- out of control again under Clinton, especially toward the end. I can easily tell what border policies work- at least in the short term by looking out my kitchen window. Right now illegal traffic past my window is less than it has been in a while- of course we have National Guard, which they keep threatening to pull away from the border- this administration has so far only offered short-term solutions and then only grudgingly. At the same time they have tried to silence those of us speaking out by denigrating us as racists and vigilantes. You should surely be able to see why I hold President Bush up as a failure on the border. The issues are far more serious than when Reagan or any other recent president was in office (9/11) and yet Bush is unwilling to take measures to solve the issue- for whatever reason.
Reagan’s policies obviously did not work long-term, I think mainly due to lack of will to enforce sanctions on employers. I think amnesty was a terrible idea in hindsight though I admit I had no real objection to it at the time. Everyone should now know that amnesty does not work- so anyone suggesting it now is under greater scrutiny. I don’t mind someone trying to solve a problem and failing- but this administration has not tried to solve the problems- they don’t see the border issues as problems and yet want to redo failed policies of the past just to placate those of us that are bringing the problems to light.