A history lesson from America to Spain: Amnesty for illegal migrants will backfire
The U.S, has tried this, in 1986 and in at least one other instance beyond that. It does not work.
Pawel Styrna | March 27, 2026 www.americanthinker.com
In Spain, the socialist-dominated government of Pedro Sanchez recently pushed through an amnesty for approximately 500,000 to 800,000 illegal migrants.
This would be the equivalent of granting amnesty to anywhere between 3.5 and 5.6 million illegal aliens in the U.S.
The anti-borders left is celebrating, but if history is any guide (and it usually is), Spain’s misguided amnesty will backfire massively and only encourage more illegal migration.
Due to both Spain’s European Union membership and its visa-free travel arrangements with the U.S., Madrid’s ill-considered amnesty poses a threat to the security of other European nations and the U.S.
Sanchez rammed his amnesty through via executive fiat, not through a vote in Spain’s parliament. He knew he did not have the votes, particularly since 60 percent of Spaniards believe immigration is too high.
To qualify for the amnesty, which is set to go into effect in April, illegal migrants would have to show at least five months of residency in Spain prior to Dec. 31, 2025, and have a clean criminal record. Those approved would, at least initially, receive not only one-year temporary residency permits but also access to taxpayer-funded health care and social security benefits.
Had Spain’s leadership consulted American immigration policy history, they would have learned that amnesty is a non-solution that rewards immigration violators. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan and a bipartisan coalition in the U.S. Congress sought to address mass illegal immigration by passing an amnesty called the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA). Illegal aliens who had resided in the U.S. before Jan. 1, 1982 and met other requirements could apply for legal status.
In exchange, Americans were promised more enforcement and penalties against employers who knowingly hired unauthorized laborers. Predictably, 3 million illegal aliens and their cheerleaders got their amnesty, but the enforcement and employer sanctions proved largely ineffective and toothless. IRCA covered more than 3 million illegal aliens.
However, IRCA demonstrated that amnesties incentivize further waves of illegal immigration and exacerbate the problem.
Approximately 2 million illegal aliens failed to qualify and remained unauthorized after IRCA, and the illegal alien population in the U.S. continued to grow rapidly in subsequent decades, reaching an estimated 18.6 million as Donald Trump began his second term in early 2025 – a ninefold increase since the late 1980s.
The proponents of the Sanchez amnesty attempt to deflect criticism by arguing that, because Spain has implemented six amnesties between 1986 and 2005, the latest amnesty should not raise alarm bells.
However, the previous amnesties were smaller and more restrictive.
Moreover, the very fact that Spain granted amnesty to illegal migrants so many times in itself clearly shows that, as in the American case, amnesty drives more illegal migration (which the anti-borders crowd takes advantage of to argue for new amnesties).
But, perhaps for the Spanish left, the predictable, illegal-migration-incentivizing failure of amnesty is a feature, not a bug?
The promoters of the Spanish amnesty are framing it in both humanitarian terms – with Prime Minister Sanchez claiming it represents “dignity, community and justice” – and as a supposed boon to Spain’s economy.
But Spain’s former Equality Minister and far-left Member of the European Parliament, Irene Montero, revealed that the real motivation was nakedly and cynically political, saying “of course we want them [amnestied illegal aliens] to vote” and that the goal is “to change the law so they can vote.”
Montero went so far as to say that “I wish the replacement theory were true. I hope we can sweep this country of fachas [fascists/right wingers] and racists,” It was the typical slanderous label pinned on citizens who oppose open borders and amnesty.
Of course, in a world of rapid and visa-free travel, what happens in Spain does not stay in Spain.
The Iberian nation, like most European countries, is part of the U.S. Visa Waiver Program. Thus, amnesty beneficiaries in Spain will be able to travel to the U.S. visa-free. Being part of the Schengen zone, they will also be able to travel with ease to other European nations.
The loophole has already been utilized by terrorists, such as U.K. national Malik Faisal Akram, the perpetrator of a hostage crisis at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, in January 2022.
Criminals have also taken advantage of current visa-free system, such as Dominican national Joel Carmona Roa (recently arrested by ICE in New Jersey) who entered the U.S. as a Spanish citizen and was wanted in that country for raping a child. The Spanish amnesty does of course require that beneficiaries have no criminal record, but no vetting system is fool-proof and some bad actors will likely slip through the cracks.
What Spain’s amnesty proves, above all else, is that anti-borders globalist politicians and activists simply do not care if their schemes fail or lead to greater risk and a lower quality of life for their citizens. As long as they gain political and economic benefits from harmful immigration policies and can feel good about themselves, the average citizen is thrown to the lions as collateral damage. This is as true in Spain as it is in the U.S., France, Italy, or the UK.
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