Fred Thompson, Ronald Reagan, and the Goldilocks Republicans
Here’s Ed Meese in the ’86 bill:
“In the mid-80′s, many members of Congress – pushed by the Democratic majority in the House and the Select Commission on Immigration and Refugee Policy – advocated amnesty for long-settled illegal immigrants. President Reagan considered it reasonable to adjust the status of what was then a relatively small population, and I supported his decision.”
“In exchange for allowing aliens to stay, he[Reagan] decided, border security and enforcement of immigration laws would be greatly strengthened – in particular, through sanctions against employers who hired illegal immigrants. If jobs were the attraction for illegal immigrants, then cutting off that option was crucial.”
“Beyond this, most illegal immigrants who could establish that they had resided in America continuously for five years would be granted temporary resident status, which could be upgraded to permanent residency after 18 months and, after another five years, to citizenship.”
“Note that this path to citizenship was not automatic. Indeed, the legislation stipulated several conditions: immigrants had to pay application fees, learn to speak English, understand American civics, pass a medical exam and register for military selective service. Those with convictions for a felony or three misdemeanors were ineligible.”
“America welcomes more immigrants than any other country. But in keeping open that door of opportunity, we also must uphold the rule of law and enhance a fair immigration process, as Ronald Reagan said, to “humanely regain control of our borders and thereby preserve the value of one of the most sacred possessions of our people: American citizenship.”"
“the 1986 act did not solve our illegal immigration problem. From the start, there was widespread document fraud by applicants. Unsurprisingly, the number of people applying for amnesty far exceeded projections. And there proved to be a failure of political will in enforcing new laws against employers.”
We know this isn’t about Reagan, or Thompson, or Mitt, or Rudy, or even Huckabee – it’s about McCain.
Another internet scold telling us to put aside our deep disgust with McCain for the good of the party.
Well I put the good of the people before the good of the GOP, and that’s why I’ll never vote for McCain.
