“We have consistently supported a legalization program which is both generous to the alien and fair to the countless thousands of people throughout the world who seek legally to come to America. The legalization provisions in this act will go far to improve the lives of a class of individuals who now must hide in the shadows, without access to many of the benefits of a free and open society. Very soon many of these men and women will be able to step into the sunlight and, ultimately, if they choose, they may become Americans.”
-President Ronald Reagan upon signing the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act
Unlike Mike Huckabee I don’t think Ronald Reagan was wrong on the issue.
While Barack Obama is inspiring crowds with his rhetoric (regardless of how empty it is and how disastrous his liberal policies might be) and challenging them to dream about how his presidency might be, the GOP candidates are bickering about Z visas and deporting 12 million illegal immigrants. If this is the issue that they are going to trumpet through November then we better start moving our assets offshore because we’re in for at least 4 years of Democrat president.
The GOP I grew up with was optimistic about America.
What many do not remember is that Ronald Reagan (RR) went along with amensty grudgenly because the Dems on the Hill promised to increase border security.
Unfortunately after the “alledged” sheep herder child was killed by the army RR posted on the border the Dems defunded the border security. Thus RR was betrayed!
Today the drive by media fails to inform us that, TX Sen. Hutchinson (R), in the senate this past week defunded the wall on the mexi border. This is bullshit and it is what caused the Rep to lose the house and senate last year.
When the American people want our elected officials to do something and they dont they are out by our vote….even if the Dems take over!
If you run as a conservative by God when your in office dont pussy out just do what is what you promised!
I almost puked when Guliani said RR was for amnesty last night on the ABC/Facebook debate…..BULL-COOKIES! It was a deal worked out to secure the border and the rest of those RR wanna-bees kept their left-leaning mouths shut.
RR gave amnesty for 4 million not for an estimated 25 million and their estranged families.
We need to fix the border and then put a bullet in the heads of those that complain Cubans get special treatment because of the Cuban adjustment act. The rest of those socialist voting (la raza type) latinos should have voted Rep instead of Dems and maybe they could have had their own adjustment act!
Que dejan de joder por favor!
Ya! Desgarge un poco…..
Just to cite as supporting evidence here is Rush Limbough parroting what I have been saying for a few years. You can find the whole RR rant at: http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_010308/content/01125111.guest.html
Now, you might say, “Hey, Rush, Reagan supported the ’86 amnesty bill that was Simpson-Mazzoli.” Yeah, but not because he supported these things. Reagan didn’t support these things. He supported amnesty for a few million illegals in exchange for securing the border. Congress never secured the border. Reagan was not motivated by conferring benefits and rights on illegal aliens as Governor Huckabee is and as Senator McCain was, and probably still is, and who knows who else in this Republican field. Reagan was a huge law-and-order governor as well. He put down the riots on college campi from ’66 to ’74, he didn’t release hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of criminals. If you want to compare him to a California governor on that stand, compare him to Governor Schwarzenegger, who is preparing to release a bunch of criminals on the basis of budget cuts.
“The GOP I grew up with was optimistic about America.”
This is pure spin, Henry. Ronald Reagan did make a mistake signing the ’86 amnesty, but in point of fact- privately, it was definitely something he did not want to do. But equating Reagan’s and the GOP’s optimism with illegal immigration is a totally ridiculous assertion. Reagan was rightly optimistic about America for a bevy of reasons other than Illegal Immigration. If you listened to Fred Thompson’s brilliant answer about Illegal Immigration and the human toll it has exacted on both sides of the border, you would never have written such a statement.
Optimism comes when you have hope and gratitude. It energizes you, whether personally or collectively. Reagan was optimistic because he had both, and understood where his bearings were.
This is still the land of opportunity … look at all the people trampling over each other to get here. Yet, today there is growing undercurrent of cynicism that makes people whine with an undue sense of entitlement. You see it in the debates with both parties – nanny state promises right and left and in-between. If we don’t go back to the drawing board of our roots, we might just end up like Holland. Or France. Y como siempre, nuestros hijos pagaran los platos rotos.