You really don't remember, do you?
Are you are getting your information from from left wing blogs or just throwing bombs?
It's not a qualifier it's a fact. Reagan negotiated a deal with Congress. Reagan signed the law granting amnesty. It's called the Simpson, Mizzoli, act. It was bipartisan legislation that had two main parts. 1st was the granting of amnesty to approximately 4 million illegal aliens. Second was enforcement of penalties against employers who knowingly hired illegals and stronger border protection. During the debate the penalties got severely watered down to the point where they ended up being ineffective. Neither Congress or Reagan realized just how watered down the penalties were at the time. Reagan's concern was securing the border so he signed the bill. Congress was then supposed to pass the funding to provide more agents, more technology and better surveillance at the border. They didn't do their part until due to the flipping of the Senate to Democratic control and therefore a Democratic controlled Congress and the purse strings, Remember the 1986 elections? The new Congress refused to fund the law. Some ten years later another 5 million illegals had come to the US. By then Democrats wanted another round of amnesty in exchange for more funding to combat the by then extremely porous border. As I said that reneging by Congress has been a source of contention and mistrust to this day.
Please, if anything I've written here is incorrect, revise it. I was just out of College and maybe not paying as much attention at the time as I should have been I guess. I do remember it happening the way I described but If I'm wrong I will say I'm wrong.