http://journals.aol.com/stebrel/MoralityandtheLaw/entries/2007/05/20/illegal-immigration/1534
“More than 10 million applications were filed.”
I suspect that blogger was mixing up two different factors. The 1986 amnesty allowed illegals who were in the U. S. to apply to bring in relatives from their home country (mostly Mexico). Maybe there were 10M applications for that, but the only figure I had heard before this was 1.7 million applications from those who were already here. See http://209.157.64.200/focus/f-news/1045921/posts
The point is, there’s a difference between the number of applications, including those for relatives to come in, and the number of illegals who were already here at the time.
Note that I’m not defending President Reagan for signing that bill in 1986. The enforcement promises then were as false as they are today. The 1986 bill was a huge mistake, generated by Kennedy lies.