A Little history Lesson...

Source: Otis Graham

I much like the historical perspective offered in this comment on Simpson-Mazzoli by the historian John Higharn, in a letter to the editor of the New York Times written in 1984:

The clamor against the Simpson-Mazzoli bill today closely resembles the rigid opposition in the first decade of the twentieth century to any scheme of immigration restriction. The inescapable need for some rational control over the volume of immigration in an increasingly crowded world was plain to see, then as now. But unyielding resistance from the newer immigrant groups, from business interests that exploited them, and from the traditionalists who feared any increase in the powers of government, blocked all action. The problem was allowed to fester and grow-until a wave of national hysteria brought into being a system that was extravagantly protective and demeaningly racist. Hispanic leaders, chambers of commerce, and civil libertarians should take note."35