Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

The Immigration Reform and Control Act restricted not so much the number of immigrants allowed in the nation but who could be employed. Prior immigration policies had focused primarily on restricting, amending, or maintaining the number and nationality of immigrants allowed in America. The Immigration and Naturalization Act differed slightly from this trend.

In 1924, the U.S. government established the quota system, a policy that allotted a specific number of immigrant visas by country. As a result of racial perceptions, no immigrants from Asian countries would be admitted. The Immigration Act of 1924 guided immigration policy until 1952, when it was amended. The Immigration and Naturalization Service, created in 1940, was an agency in the Department of Justice from 1940 to 2002. It originally oversaw the admittance, exclusion, and deportation of all aliens. Furthermore, it investigated candidates for citizenship and provided the textbooks required for teaching the information necessary to gain citizenship. In 2002, the functions of the Immigration and Naturalization Service were transferred to the Department of Homeland Security.

In 1952, the U.S. Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act, also known as the McCarran-Walter Act. The Immigration and Nationality Act gave the president power to exclude immigrants thought to be a threat to national security and increased the number of immigrants from Asian countries. The act raised the Asian immigration number to only 100 people a year despite opposition from the executive branch. Major immigration reform would not occur for almost another decade and a half. Still, in 1965, the Johnson administration was successful in passing the Immigration Act of 1965. As a result of the Civil Rights movement, Lyndon Johnson passed multiple bills granting African Americans relief from political oppression. Johnson believed that past immigration [Page 328]policies also were racist and biased. The Johnson administration successfully abolished the oppressive quota system and granted visas on the basis of family reunification, not by place of origin. The 1965 act opened the doors of America to immigrants. Twenty-one years passed before major reform took place in 1986. This time; however, the focus was on employment restriction.

Although the Immigration Reform and Control Act supplemented the Immigration Naturalization Act, it can be seen as an original piece of legislation. As a result of the Immigration Act of 1965, immigrants from Asia and Latin America poured into the United States in alarming numbers. Large numbers of people from Latin American countries, primarily Mexico, immigrated to the United States illegally and obtained numerous jobs. Many in the United States felt that America had no control over its borders. Others, however, felt that Latin Americans would cause social, political, and economic problems similar to those in their native countries. Consequently, fear of American unemployment started to grow, as many illegal immigrants began holding jobs previously held by U.S. citizens. Therefore, after much deliberation in Congress, the U.S. government passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.

The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRC) was revolutionary in that it, for the first time, regulated undocumented employment. The IRC required all employers to make a background check of future employees as well as any employed after November 1966. Employers had to verify the legal status of immigrants and eligibility to work in the United States. After this process was completed, employers had to complete an INS I-9 form that stated the status of each employee and listed the documents used to verify an immigrant's legal status to work. Acceptable forms of identification to prove an alien's identity and eligibility for work include a U.S. passport or an Alien Registration Receipt card. The IRC further established sanctions prohibiting employers from knowingly hiring or recruiting illegal immigrants. In 1998, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) reported that it had apprehended and expelled 1,008,145 immigrants. Of those, 985,479 (97.8 percent) were found to have entered the United States illegally or, as the INS states, “entered without inspection.” If an employer was found guilty of knowingly hiring illegal aliens, that employer could be fined anywhere from $250 to $10,000. If the offense was repeated, the employer could serve up to six months in jail.

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