4 ms·

I don't understand the Republican position on / opposition to amnesty. Don't they remember Reagan signing the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 into l

by jlgreco 14y ago

I don't understand the Republican position on / opposition to amnesty. Don't they remember Reagan signing the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 into law? Isn't Reagan supposed to be the Platonic prototype of Republicans for them?

illuminate 14y ago
Besides that amnesty is quite a stopgap, we'll still end up doing it again in the future unless we can get some actual change enacted.
smoyer 14y ago
Both parties have degraded considerably since then ... Forget the term "public servant" as they no longer exist.
mjn 14y ago
The simple descriptive (rather than ideology-related) answer is just that it's really unpopular with a majority of Republican voters. So even if you're right that GOP ideology ought to consistently favor it, and even if some party leaders would actually support it, a pro-amnesty Republican probably can't win a primary.
anigbrowl 14y ago
They remember it, but in the conservative narrative it was supposed to be a single and final act that would magically bring illegal immigration to an end. Instead evil Democrats tricked Reagan. In reality, as far as I can make out, the choice was made to prioritize speed over accuracy in the amnesty process with the result that there was quite a lot of fraud, and little was done to strengthen border security; of course there's a limit to how much you can realistically secure a ~2000 mile long border, notwithstanding the fantasies of some about installing an electrified double wall with a minefield in the middle (actual proposal I heard last year some some primary candidate). 'Business Republicans' like immigration because it fits with a free trade ethic and also provides the treasury with a hedge against demographic trends that are skewing the ratio of taxpayers to retirees downwards, while also serving as a secondary and fiscally 'free' source of foreign aid in the region. 'Social Conservative Republicans,' however, tend to be far more ideological and dogmatically insist that no compromise is possible. I personally feel there's a correlation between the absolutism of such political positions and the sincerity of their belief that bad people are going to spend eternity in a lake of fire, presumably for the entertainment of those sitting up in heaven.
yummyfajitas 14y ago
They remember it well. They remember it was supposed to be a amnesty just this once, and enforcing immigration laws in the future. Apparently they've learned from Reagan's mistakes.

by jlgreco 14y ago

illuminate 14y ago

Besides that amnesty is quite a stopgap, we'll still end up doing it again in the future unless we can get some actual change enacted.

smoyer 14y ago

Both parties have degraded considerably since then ... Forget the term "public servant" as they no longer exist.

mjn 14y ago

The simple descriptive (rather than ideology-related) answer is just that it's really unpopular with a majority of Republican voters. So even if you're right that GOP ideology ought to consistently favor it, and even if some party leaders would actually support it, a pro-amnesty Republican probably can't win a primary.

anigbrowl 14y ago

They remember it, but in the conservative narrative it was supposed to be a single and final act that would magically bring illegal immigration to an end. Instead evil Democrats tricked Reagan. In reality, as far as I can make out, the choice was made to prioritize speed over accuracy in the amnesty process with the result that there was quite a lot of fraud, and little was done to strengthen border security; of course there's a limit to how much you can realistically secure a ~2000 mile long border, notwithstanding the fantasies of some about installing an electrified double wall with a minefield in the middle (actual proposal I heard last year some some primary candidate). 'Business Republicans' like immigration because it fits with a free trade ethic and also provides the treasury with a hedge against demographic trends that are skewing the ratio of taxpayers to retirees downwards, while also serving as a secondary and fiscally 'free' source of foreign aid in the region. 'Social Conservative Republicans,' however, tend to be far more ideological and dogmatically insist that no compromise is possible. I personally feel there's a correlation between the absolutism of such political positions and the sincerity of their belief that bad people are going to spend eternity in a lake of fire, presumably for the entertainment of those sitting up in heaven.

yummyfajitas 14y ago

They remember it well. They remember it was supposed to be a amnesty just this once, and enforcing immigration laws in the future. Apparently they've learned from Reagan's mistakes.