Immigration+Reform+and+Control+Act+1986

Definition of Element Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 was made to change aspects of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 to better control unauthorized immigration. It established four major components. First, it legalized illegal immigrants who came into the United States before January 1, 1982. Second, it did not allow employers to hire any unauthorized aliens or else they would be fined by the government. Third, it allowed for temporary hiring of immigrants for agricultural employment. Fourth, it increased the number of working visas. Other aspects of the law ruled that immigrants who married could live in the United States conditional for two years but they would have to apply for full citizenship within ninety days after the two year temporary citizenship. Finally, it increased the amount of boarder patrol agents by 50 percent. Details of the Act such as an outline of the different sections of the act and funding details can be found at the link: http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/uhic/PrimarySourcesDetailsPage/PrimarySourcesDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=K12-PrimarySources&prodId=UHIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CEJ2154000119&mode=view&userGroupName=bullischl&jsid=c44265f12dee47dc76093d84f53f8519

Historical background There was a growing number of immigrants that were entering the United States illegally. Employers were hiring the aliens at low wages and providing no benefits like health insurance. There were concerns that immigrants were taking jobs away from Americans. Also,immigrants were not paying taxes for the use of public works like roads and schools. There was increasing pressure from labor groups to crackdown on employers hiring illegal aliens and the pressure in Congress was growing for the United States to gain complete control of its borders. Congress formed a commission in 1978 to examine the effects of immigration. The commission released their findings in 1981 which became the substructure of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. The law was passed in an attempt to stop the increase in illegal immigrants.

Positive and Negative Effects After the law was passed, illegal immigrants entering the United States did not decrease but actually increased. This taught the U.S. that granting illegal aliens absolution does not solve the problem of illegal immigration. Fake documents were easy to create since there were more than 24 acceptable proofs of citizenship documents under the new system. Employer sanctions are pointless if they are not enforced by the government. In 1994, 890 companies were fined but in 2004 there were no fines. The Act also represented that the strictest work site and border control is bound to fail when the U.S. economy is strong and the demand for lower waged workers is high. Three million applied for amnesty and nearly all (2.7 million) were granted it. This created a positive effect in that after 4 years after the law was passed the wages on new immigrants had risen 9.3%. The Act also contracted about a 6% gap between wage of immigrants and native-born workers working in the same job. The wages for legal workers increased. The immigrants who became legal now had to start paying taxes along with their employer. The law is viewed by many as a failure as immigration is still an issue today.

Works Cited  //An act to Revise and Reform Immigration Laws, 1986//. Woodbridge, CT : n.p., 1999. //Gale U.S. History in Context//. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. .  //associatepublisher.com//. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. .  Sen Simpson, Alan K. “Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 .” Paper presented at ... House of Representatives. //thomas.loc.gov//. Web. 25 Oct. 2010. .