He did, IIRC, support an amnesty for illegal aliens bill.
He was okey doked by the ‘lion of the Senate’ Kennedy, actually a murderer. And at the time I think the number was a few million, far less than what has come over the border in the last two years.
And it was supposed to be a one time thing and he traded the amnesty for border security which never happened.
In an email exchange with The Arizona Republic, Michael Reagan, the former president’s son, said that his father never regretted the amnesty part of the 1986 compromise, but did regret that there was no follow-through on the enforcement measures or border security.