In 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), which granted amnesty (a path to legal status) to about 3 million undocumented immigrants who had entered the U.S. before January 1, 1982 and met certain requirements.
Eligibility: Continuous residence in the U.S. since before Jan. 1, 1982.
Requirements: Pay a $185 fine, pay back taxes, demonstrate good moral character, and learn English.
Roughly 2.7–3 million people received legal permanent residency (green cards); most were of Hispanic descent.
Reagan’s own words: He explicitly called it “amnesty” and said in a 1984 debate: “I believe in the idea of amnesty for those who have put down roots and lived here, even though sometime back they may have entered illegally”.
Compare that to the hate, xenophobic rhetoric of today.
Today it is not just illegals we are trying to keep out, but immigrants from all over the world by making entry and residency more difficult.
That may make nativists happy, but it is not in the best interest of the United States. It’s not making America “great.”
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