Reagan on immigration…

To those who bemoan my repudiation of the Republican party for among other things its stance on illegal immigration. Let me remind you that I have Reagan on my side. You have Senator Kennedy. Congrats. This article on Foxnews deserves a read.

In exchange for legal status for the group, Reagan insisted that the magnet attracting illegal aliens to the United States be removed by extinguishing any incentive for U.S. employers to hire illegal aliens. In tandem with the amnesty, Reagan campaigned for employer sanctions for hiring illegal aliens, sanctions so stringent that many at the time regarded them as draconian.

Exactly correct as usual Reagan had the right idea. But watch who sabotages his efforts at a sweeping reform.

Reagan reasoned that if an employer were fined for hiring an illegal alien (as much as $1 million in the worst cases), any payroll savings achieved by the hiring would be wiped out by the fine. In effect, it would be more expensive to hire illegal aliens than to hire Americans or lawful permanent residents. The few illegal aliens who continued to take the gamble and cross the border would be intercepted by a robust and more generously funded Border Patrol.

While Reaganâ€™s 1986 immigration reforms (search) can at least be called rational, they were a failure. Today, there are between 8 million and 11 million illegal aliens in the United States. The majority of them crossed our southern border and has found employment â€” illegal employment, but employment nonetheless. This is attributed to Sen. Ted Kennedyâ€™s eventual gutting of the enforcement mechanism for Reagan’s employer sanctions, and successive administrations refusing to give our Border Patrol the resources it needs to achieve its mission.

Hey look at that, Senator Kennedy destroyed immigration reform by gutting the employer sanctions portion of the Reagan reform. Boy I bet that today’s Republicans would never be on the same side as Senator Kennedy. Oops President Bush’s enforcement of employer sanctions has been dismal, more dismal than Clinton by a long shot. Furthermore those who warn me of dire consequences should the Democrats gain power, do they realize that Republicans of today are acting like Democrats of yesterday? If I continue to support them pretty soon I expect to see them in Che workouts. Nope not anymore. Republicans need to prove themselves to me. Show that they are serious about Republican values.
FOXNews.com - GOP Immigration Stance Far From Reagan Reforms

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One Comment

Thanks for the Reagan reminder. Kennedy is a traitor in my eyes, a corrupt POS. You are absolutely correct, Kennedy is at it again!

As a naturalized citizen who arrived in America by legal means, I abhor the cheapening of my and other legal immigrants’ American citizenship by the scofflaws in congress and city governments across the USA. Sanctuary cities, my ass!

I am sick of being called a hater and xenophobe. My reply to the traitors supporting “immigration rights” is that I am sick and tired of the exploitation of illegal immigrants and how they are used to reduce the earning power of the working class in the USA and how their remittances are skimmed by their home governments to prop up their ineffective, corrupt and incompetent bureaucracies.

I have seen first hand the results of the failed existing policy of not enforcing the laws on the books and the flaunting of the immigration law breakers. While this goes on, the rights of the working class continues to erode contributing to the decay of the American Dream.

Salaam eleikum professor

1. Marzouq on June 30th, 2007 at