Biden's Amnesty Won't Attract New Waves of Immigrants
A lot has changed since Ronald Reagan's 1986 legalization program, including birth rates, prosperity and border control.
Fewer, not more.
Photographer: Johan Ordonez/AFP via Getty Images
The centerpiece of President Joe Biden’s broad proposal for immigration reform is an eight-year path to citizenship for unauthorized immigrants. This would be the boldest amnesty since Ronald Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act in 1986. It's also likely to prompt the same fear: That fresh waves of immigrants will be inspired to cross our southern border illegally in the hope of future legalization.
Most studies conclude that there are somewhere around 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. A few argue that there are about twice that number. But what all the studies agree on is that the unauthorized population has been falling since 2007.