If you back to the 84 debate, Reagan actually explicitly said “I support the idea of an amnesty for those who have been here and put down roots”. He actually used the word amnesty. If he had been President today, it’d be interetsing to see the reaction.
Reagan did make a mistake there. However, there were only around 2M illegals back then so the numbers were far fewer. Also, immigration and border security was not really a major issue for Reagan. Domestically he focused on the economy, the military buildup, reducing govt, deregulation, etc... But his amnesty was one of his bigger blunders.
Right. The Dems controlled Congress. This was supposed to be a one time amnesty, i.e., never again. It didn’t work and even Ed Meese admits it was a mistake.