Reagan said “Instead of putting up a fence, why don’t we make it possible for (immigrants) to come here legally and open up the border both ways.”
bill Clinton said “All Americans … are rightly disturbed by the large numbers of illegal aliens entering our country. The jobs they hold might otherwise be held by citizens or legal immigrants. The public service they use impose burdens on our taxpayers.”
These statements seem like they would be the other way around today
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Reagan said “Instead of putting up a fence, why don’t we make it possible for (immigrants) to come here legally and open up the border both ways.”
bill Clinton said “All Americans … are rightly disturbed by the large numbers of illegal aliens entering our country. The jobs they hold might otherwise be held by citizens or legal immigrants. The public service they use impose burdens on our taxpayers.”
These statements seem like they would be the other way around today
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You are comparing a statement from Reagan about legal immigration to a statement by Bill Clinton regarding illegal immigration. That’s a false comparison.
But there was a switch due to the ongoing party realignment. Democrats used to be the party against immigration because immigration was seen by certain labor constituencies, really just unions, as detrimental.
As things shifted, and Republicans became the party that ignored economists and were focused on nativism they abandoned the position of Ronald Reagan and GHWB and picked up the pipeline from David Duke to Pat Buchanan to Donald Trump
I wouldn’t say ‘switch’ it is more than both parties have been increasingly pushed to the extreme right by the astroturfed anti-immigration movement in the US. The Republicans are obviously far more to the right than the Democrats but the Democrats are far more to the right than they were even a few years ago.
No party is making the case for sane immigration laws, both have been captured the far right anti-immigration sentiment
For one thing don’t base anything republicans think on what Reagan said. He lied as he breathed. He would give a passionate 20 minute speech against a bill as he was signing it and not bat an eye.
Kind of.
Republicans used to be the sane party when it came to economics back under Reagan (apart from cutting welfare a bit too much). Immigration is obviously good for the economy.
Now we have one dumb party that won’t fix legal immigration because it hurts unions (the democrats) and one completely insane party that wants to send them to el Salvador (the republicans)
Americans have been told for reasons unknown that the US is actually poorer than other countries-even though it isn’t. It’s the richest country in the world by GDP and GNI per Capita adjusted for cost of living. It’s median wages have not gone down. They’re roughly 50% up too- even when you consider inflation. And free trade hasn’t killed manufacturing employment- machines have.
And Reagan was a really good Republican and pretty based on immigration, foreign policy and economics. Trump is a dangerous authoritarian idiot
The Economist hasn’t endorsed a Republican since 2000 but they endorsed him. FT hasn’t endorsed a republican since Reagan.
Republicans lie, and they’re good at it. They create things for you to get mad about, pretend Democrats created the problem, pretend Democrats want it that way, and pretend they are the only solution.
I wouldn’t say that modern democrats were ever fully against immigration, but the more nativist left did have more power in the 2000s than today. Illegal immigration numbers were a pretty common talking point against GWB back then.
No.
Probably by less than one would assume. Republicans switch on immigration is almost entirely rhetorical, and Democrats switch is similarly more about propaganda than policy (from both immigration activists who are advocating for it to change and Republicans who are distorting what it is).