November 6, 1986: The Immigration Reform and Control Act

Behind the President, left to right: Representative Peter Rodino,

Senator Alan Simpson, Vice President George H.W. Bush,

Senator Strom Thurmond and Representative Romano Mazzoli

November 6, 1986: President Ronald Reagan signs the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. It has been the defining document of America's immigration policy ever since.

Its most significant effect was that it allowed immigrants who had entered the U.S. illegally before January 1, 1982 to apply for legal status, provided they paid fines and back taxes. This provision, which Reagan himself referred to as "amnesty," allowed around 3 million immigrants to secure legal status after paying $185 -- about $494 in 2022 money -- demonstrating "good moral character," and learning to speak English.

It superseded the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which superseded the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which replaced terribly restrictive Immigration Act of 1924.

The 1986 Act was proposed by Senator Alan Simpson, Republican of Wyoming. Its House of Representatives sponsor was Romano Mazzoli of Kentucky, a Democrat. So it had bipartisan support. The House passed it on October 14, by a vote of 238-173. The Senate did so on October 17, by a vote of 63-24.

Reagan signed it into law in the Roosevelt Room at the White House. Among those with him at the time were Simpson, Mazzoli, Vice President George H.W. Bush; and the Chairmen of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, respectively: Peter Rodino, Democrat of New Jersey, and Strom Thurmond, Republican of South Carolina. Thurmond had come a long way from a past of bigotry. He should have: He was a few days short of his 84th birthday.

Conservative activists since Reagan, who have demagogued the issue of illegal immigration since the 1990s and especially since the 9/11 attacks in 2001, find it hard to believe that their favorite President of all time could have done such a thing, but he did. Say what you want about him, and I have, but the man did believe that immigrants made America stronger, not weaker.

And every President after him agreed: Both George Bushes, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama -- until Donald Trump, who was so anti-immigrant, he made Calvin Coolidge look like a believer in open borders.

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November 6, 1986 was a Thursday. Baseball season had just ended. Football was in midweek. There were 4 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Sacramento Kings, 106-95 at the original ARCO Arena in Sacramento.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Houston Rockets, 104-97 at The Summit in Houston. (The arena has been converted into the "Central Campus" of televangelist Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church.)

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Utah Jazz, 135-121 at the McNichols Arena in Denver. Alex English led all scorers on the night with 36 points.

* And the Dallas Mavericks beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 147-124 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

And there were 3 games played in the NHL:

* The New Jersey Devils and the Philadelphia Flyers played to a tie, 5-5 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands. As a native of New Jersey who was 12 years old when they arrived, I can tell you that, by the standards the Devils set in their first few years, a tie with "the Broad Street Bullies" was considered a season highlight.

* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-1 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* And the Montreal Canadiens beat the Los Angeles Kings, 6-4 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.