“Latinos represented a minuscule portion of the population during RR’s terms and their numbers inside the USA were not clear at all.”
When Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980 there were about 14.5 million hispancis, now maybe 52 million. So they were 6 percent of the population back then; 16 percent now. But they were still the second largest minority group in 1980.
“And remember RR brought the economy roaring back to life so there were plenty of jobs for everyone.”
Increased defense spending—which was urgently needed—was a big reason for that. But it was also under President Reagan that manufacturing jobs really started to move offshore (although that trend did begin in the 1970s) and we became more dependent on lower-paying service jobs and well-paying high tech jobs that most Americans have a hard time with.
“RR would likely not have built the border fence either because he didn’t like walls.”
Reagan understood the difference between walls built to keep people in (e.g. Berlin) and to keep lawbreakers out (border fence).
“Reagan understood the difference between walls built to keep people in (e.g. Berlin) and to keep lawbreakers out (border fence).”
Nations must look to their own security and welfare first.
But you might consider that every immigrant that ever existed was not only trying to get into a different country, they were also trying to get out of their own. The worldwide citizenship system generally serves to trap people where they were born, even though they had no choice in the matter. Only those with extraordinary resources, education, relationships, or luck are excepted.
Look up how much income a U.S. citizen would need to have to immigrate to Mexico, if you don’t believe me.
None of my earlier reply was intended to say that there is any viable alternative to the present system.
I only question your distinction between different types of walls.
We are talking in the context of illegals yes? Yes, the subject was about amnesty and Ronald Reagan. So my statements still stand with respect to the subject of illegals. Ronald Reagan did not live to see the gross failure by the federal government to control the border.
There have almost always been legal Hispanic-Americans that have averaged around 4% to 5% of the American population.
See Slide 5:
http://www.census.gov/newsroom/cspan/hispanic/2012.06.22_cspan_hispanics.pdf
And African Americans have always averaged around 13%. Blacks were always the largest minority group until the 2000s when Latinos became the largest minority group.
Certainly Ronald Reagan’s immigration reform was a factor in the growth of the hispanic population but much of it can be attributed to the chain immigration policy of the Kennedy immigration reform of 1965.
It matters not so much now because the economy in the USA is so sick that many illegals have returned to Mexico, at least those that were seeking work. But those who did not intend to work and learned how to game the social safety nets have kept coming and they are the ones that democrats want to cultivate as democrat voters.