"Back then his stance was zero immigration because it was driving down wages for blue collar workers."
Not necessarily zero immigration, but not much immigration was the traditional stance of the vast majority of the Democratic Party for generations: FDR, Truman, Cesar Chavez, Carter, Mondale, Clinton, and most of the over-60 Democrats in the Senate and House today until very, very recently. They recognized the economic reality of the blue collar labor market, and supported the interests of blue collar workers.
Most Reaganites, on the other hand, supported lots of immigration and amnesty for illegal aliens (or at least looking the other way and not enforcing the law), to ensure a glut of low skilled labor to keep labor costs down and business profits up. This was in-line with U. of Chicago thinking. Buchanan and his wing of the GOP (of whom Trump is the current GOP manifestation) were outliers back then.
Last edited: Apr 18, 2019