Bunkum! Instead of employing 20-20 hindsight to blame Reagan for the immigration mess we have today, look at the facts.
Besides the legalization provision, the IRCA of 1986 included serious employer sanctions that Pres Reagan fought hard to get included in the final bill that came out of the Senate. This included up to a one million dollar fine. If those employer sanctions had been enforced by the Feds, the amnesty provision would have turned out to be, what it was meant to be. A one time only grant of amnesty to 2.7 million illegals.
Instead, with the Dems taking control of the Senate in 1987, things changed. Sen Ted Kennedy gutted the employer sanctions that Reagan had demanded. This opened up the flood gates and led to more liberal immigration policies from Bush41, to Clinton, to Bush43.
What Reagan signed into law in 1986, didn't turn out the way he envisioned it. OTOH, there is no way Reagan would support the liberal immigration reform that Bush, McCain and Fat Ted Kennedy are trying to ram down the throats of the American people today.
I live here, I saw what happened. I saw so many of the ones they gave amnesty get on the dole. I saw the lies that people told to get people with money amnesty and we also just established bases for the rest of their families to come so that they'd be here for the next amnesty, not one of them believed that this would be a one-time thing.
I can't even remembere why Reagan went along with the bill but I know it was to get something that he thought was important and it was a political move. I really don't think any less of Reagan than I did, he did what he felt he had to do but in my opinion, he did the wrong thing.