Former Attorney General Ed Meese informs us that his former boss, Ronald Reagan, would be opposed to any bill granting amnesty to illegal aliens who have been in the county for a number of years. This, despite Reagan having championed and signed just such a bill in 1986.
Oddly, Meese offers no evidence–or even a suggestion–that Reagan came to regret the bill. He can nonetheless intuit what Reagan Would Do:
He knew that secure borders are vital, and would now insist on meeting that priority first. He would seek to strengthen the enforcement of existing immigration laws. He would employ new tools—like biometric technology for identification, and cameras, sensors and satellites to monitor the border—that make enforcement and verification less onerous and more effective.
Now, it may well be that a healthy (and, you know, living) Ronald Reagan might indeed believe just that were he president today. Then again, he might not. To the extent we’re going to speculate on what the dead would have done, though, wouldn’t what they did while alive be the best clue?
