Synopses of Modern Immigration Laws
Background
The 1965 amendments to the INA were passed in the shadow of the civil rights movement, when an admission system based on national origins seemed out of step with national values. The 1965 Act took one of the elements of the previous system, the admission of nuclear family members, and made it the centerpiece of a new system whose goal was the reunification of extended family members.
Previous law confined admissions to the nuclear family (spouses and minor children of U.S. citizens); the new system of "family reunification " made other relatives (such as siblings and adult sons and daughters) eligible as well.
The change to family reunification shifted the source of the immigration flow away from the developed, western countries toward the closer and more overpopulated developing countries.
The Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1965 (called "The INA"or the 1965 Act)
- Abolished the national origins quota system (from Immigration Act of 1924), eliminating national origin, race, and ancestry as bases for immigration to the United States.
- Established allocation of immigrant visas on a first-come, first-served basis, under a seven-category preference system for relatives of U.S. citizens and permanent resident aliens and for persons with special occupational skills needed in the U.S.
- Established a category of immigrants not subject to numerical restrictions: immediate relatives (parents, spouses, children) of U.S. citizens.
- Limited Eastern Hemisphere immigration to 170,000 and placed a ceiling for the first time on Western Hemisphere immigration (120,000). However, neither the preference categories nor per-country limit were applied to the Western Hemisphere.
Background
As legal immigration from developing countries rose, so did the opportunities and motivation for illegal immigration. To deal with the growing population of resident illegal aliens, Congress gave an amnesty to those illegal aliens who could show that they had been resident for some time (over three million of them)and created "employer sanctions" making it illegal to knowingly hire illegal aliens.
The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (called "IRCA" or the 1986 Act)
- Created sanctions prohibiting employers from knowingly hiring, recruiting, or referring for a fee illegal alien workers.
- Authorized the legalization of non-excludable illegal aliens who had resided in the U.S. since January 1, 1982.
- Created a new classification of seasonal agricultural worker.
Background
A compilation of rather technical changes to existing laws, the 1990 Act increased the level of legal immigration by roughly 40 percent. One obvious change made by the 1990 Act was the addition of a "visa lottery." Because of the dynamics of family reunification, a few developing countries tend to squeeze most other countries out of the immigration flow. To compensate, the 55,000 admissions in the visa lottery were slated for applicants from the "squeezed out " countries.
Congress passed this bill to deter illegal immigration by better protecting the borders and by better detecting and removing illegal aliens from the U.S.
1990 Act "ImmAct90" The Immigration Act of November 29, 1990
- Increased total immigration under an overall "flexible cap" of 675,000, to consist of 480,000 family-sponsored, 140,000 employment-based, and 55,000 "diversity lottery" immigrants. Categories such as immediate relatives remained unlimited by the cap.
- Revised all grounds for exclusion and deportation, significantly rewriting the political and ideological grounds.
- Revised the nonimmigrant temporary worker categories.
Background
IIRAIRA was originally part of a larger bill (the unpassed Immigration Reform Act of 1995) that would have reformed the legal immigration system as well by eliminating certain visa categories. Congress has so far declined to return to the issue of reforming the legal immigration system.
1996 Immigration Act "IIRAIRA" The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act
- Established measures to control U.S. borders, protect legal workers through worksite enforcement, and remove criminal and other deportable aliens.
- Placed added restrictions on benefits for aliens.
Updated 10/02
