Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA or the Simpson–Mazzoli Act) was passed by the 99th United States Congress and signed into law by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on November 6, 1986.
The Immigration Reform and Control Act altered U.S. immigration law by making it illegal to knowingly hire illegal immigrants, and establishing financial and other penalties for companies that employed illegal immigrants. The act also legalized most illegal immigrants who had arrived in the country prior to January 1, 1984.
Impact[edit]
Amnesty[edit]
The passing of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act allowed for an update in the registry date. Registry in the United States is a stipulation within immigration law that allows undocumented immigrants to apply for permanent resident status if they entered the country before the established registry date and have remained in the country since, along with other specific requirements.[8] This provision was enacted through the Registry Act of 1929, and it has been updated four times since. IRCA changed the registry date from June 30, 1948 to January 1, 1972, allowing for the legalization of nearly 60,000 undocumented immigrants from 1986 to 1989 alone.[9] The registry date has not been updated since 1986, which has resulted in an exponential decrease of immigrants eligible for a path to citizenship through the registry date provision. For instance, from 2015 to 2019, only 305 individuals were granted legal status through the 1972 registry date.[10][11] Several political figures and immigration activists advocate for an advance in the current entry deadline, which would allow for the legalization of millions of long-term undocumented immigrants.[12]
In addition to the update in the registry date, the Immigration Reform and Control Act provided amnesty to two groups of applicants. Aliens who had been unlawfully residing in the United States since before January 1, 1982 (LAWs) were legalized under Section 245A of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), while aliens employed in seasonal agricultural work for a minimum of 90 days in the year prior to May, 1986 (SAWs) were legalized under Section 210A of the INA. Nearly three million people applied for legalization under the IRCA.[13] Through the update in the registry date along with the LAW and SAW programs enacted by IRCA, approximately 2.7 million people were ultimately approved for permanent residence.
On labor market[edit]
According to one study, the IRCA caused some employers to discriminate against workers who appeared foreign, resulting in a small reduction in overall Hispanic employment. There is no statistical evidence that a reduction in employment correlated to unemployment in the economy as a whole or was separate from the general unemployment population statistics.[14] Another study stated that if employees were hired, wages were being lowered to compensate employers for the perceived risk of hiring foreigners.[15]
The hiring process also changed as employers turned to indirect hiring through subcontractors. "Under a subcontracting agreement, a U.S. citizen or resident alien contractually agrees with an employer to provide a specific number of workers for a certain period of time to undertake a defined task at a fixed rate of pay per worker."[15] "By using a subcontractor the firm is not held liable since the workers are not employees. The use of a subcontractor decreases a worker's wages since a portion is kept by the subcontractor. This indirect hiring is imposed on everyone regardless of legality."[15]
Following the Short title, the IRCA is divided into seven Titles (I through VII). Title I is divided into parts A, B, and C, and Title III is divided into parts A and B. The IRCA affects 8 USC 1101. Additional portions of the U.S. Code created or amended by the IRCA include, but are not necessarily limited to: