Ronald Reagan vs. 2024 Republicans

Republican candidates spoke from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, but their rhetoric had little in common with the way the 40th president talked about immigration.

[jeremyjackson]

Lets not pretend Reagan wasn't talking about legal immigration.

[rudydominguez]

This is obviously misleading. Reagan was talking about legal immigration whereas 2024 Republicans were talking about illegal immigration.

[mtvdvm]

Most important clause was the last 3 words Regan said… “Become an American.”

[derpydude]

This is very misleading, as pointed out by many other comments, because Republicans in 2024 are talking about an entirely different issue than Reagan (illegal versus legal immigration).

Also, even if they were talking about the same issue (which they aren’t), times change over the span of 40+ years. We need to adapt to change.

[bcataiji]

Reagan was talking about legal immigration.

[TheRoamingStoic]

I hear ya, but I don’t think Reagan had to deal with military aged males pouring over the border in millions per year

[heckensteiner]

I agree with both Reagan and the new Republicans, though I disagree with both on most issues. Embrace LEGAL immigration and stop ILLEGAL immigration.

[PeteJCBeebe]

We should have a robust legal immigration system. It starts with a secure border.

[knuckleheadwestwind]

Reagan is the last president to grant amnesty to illegal immigrants who had been in the country for a certain amount of time. So people saying that this sentiment was only for legal immigrants isn’t entirely incorrect

[microsoftpain]

Reason once again favoring open borders. Comparing Reagan's words from 40+ years ago to now is useless. Millions of people have come across the border illegally, and some places are giving them full benefits, including voting rights. We cannot support more people when our own country is failing.

[Booger]

Regan was talking about legal immigration not the invasion we are currently dealing with
Pence is out of touch, and progress made when he was in office has been undone by the current administration.

[williamwest]

Reagen wanted legal immigration easier, not illegal.

[FlippyD]

Its almost as if the 80’s and 2023 are more than 40 years apart 🤔. Who would’ve thought situations change!?

[tonebalone]

Uhhhh Ronald reagen was thirty yrs ago, we've had 50 plus yrs of this open border crap, we have inflation banks collapsing, how are u support more humans, when yours are failing?

[ryancormack]

Ronald Reagan did well in his era. He probably would not win in this era.

[aaronpinkham]

What an awful, cherry-picked, out-of-context edit. This is extremely disconnected from reality.

[JohnHoulgate]

Different times. Democrats were more concerned about illegal immigration because they were a pro-union, working class party. They wanted to protect jobs.

Republicans were not so against illegal immigration because they were anti-union and illegals were a source of cheap labor. Country Club Republicans had more clout in the GOP and many hired illegals to tend their gardens and clean their homes.

Reagan was also a President of the Cold War era. People immigrating from Communist countries were welcomed.

Context is everything.

[kaiamaseton]

They just want to have people using a legal process. Some abuse the current laws to come here and they should be trying to use the legal routes. Reagan said it himself saying if they want to come legally, they're welcome.

[Erakius]

Focus on making the legal system easy to use. Would I ever apply for American Citizenship? No. I would not get it. Not done anything wrong, they just would not want me. And that’s the problem. If your immigration standards are so high, that average people, who own a house, who have no criminal record, who pay their taxes, won’t even bother applying, because they won’t get in, and they know it, what chance did the migrants now streaming over the border have of passing the system?

[scott]

I have only three things to say

- Terrorists
- Cartels
- Human Trafficking