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Mr. Calvo is mistaken. The last immigration reform took place not in 1962 but 27 years ago in 1986 with the Immigration act passed by Congress and signed by then Republican president, Ronald Reagan. This act gave amnesty and a path to citizenship to 2.7 million 'unauthorized' immigrants residing in the US at that time.
The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 said that any unauthorized immigrants who had already been living in the United States continuously since 1982( 4 years) became eligible for temporary legal status, after paying a $185 fee and demonstrating “good moral character.” After 18 months, they could then become eligible for green cards, provided they learned to speak English.
This was much more lenient than the bill that is being discussed now. Why did it fail? Why are we having to legislate the same problem 27 years later?
The problem with this law was that it did not close the borders to further illegal entry. The Democratic majority in the House did not appropriate the money to do so. Let's learn from history not ignore it. Here is the link to the 1/30/13 Washington Post Article entitled: Congress tried to fix immigration back in 1986. Why did it fail?
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