Reagan was lied to by his advisors.
The Deep State was born in 1980 to keep the Uniparty in control.
Legal immigration is a good thing WHEN the country is allowed to give those people a sense of the country and it’s values and to allow them to become part of the melting pot.
However, that is no longer the case. Schools teach Zinn history and learn to hate the US, they don’t learn English and too often they no longer come here for opportunity
Add in that the Kennedy changes in the 60’s biased Immigration to come overwhelmingly from countries that would import low skill workers, and we have a terrible situation.
Reset the clock on the schools and the immigration policies and I’m pretty sure everyone would love immigration
Reagan made a deal that was supposed to solve the problems of illegal immigration. The deal was tough new immigration laws were passed and amnesty for those that had been here and were established here. It was meant to be a one time solution.
Reagan kept his end of the bargain on amnesty though that system was seriously gamed to include (through out right fraud) large numbers of illegals who did not meet the requirements.
When the time came to enforce the new tough immigration laws, especially the significant fines on businesses that employ illegals...the very Democrats that agreed with the deal started shrieking that the new laws were too tough and unfair. So enforcement that was a vital part of the amnesty solution failed. When it became obvious the news laws would not be strictly enforced, that became a magnet attracting far more illegals. It also showed the world that Americans (at least at that time) were not serious about stopping illegal immigration. Which led to far bolder actions on the part of illegals and their supporters.
Even now many people say we don’t need a wall...we just need tougher laws. That has proven to be a failure.