The immigration warriors did not stay home - the blue-collar Reagan Democrats decided that they could vote for either the pro-amnesty party that would hand them a welfare check when their job was offshored/cheap-sourced, or the pro-amnesty party that would leave them hanging when their job was offshored/cheap-sourced. The exit polls showed that the Republican base DID SHOW UP - it was the independents that sat out or voted DIM. Stop repeating this trope.
You certainly couldn't prove that by the blustering on this forum, both before, and after the election!