Unauthorized Immigration And Nationality Act Of 1965

Currently, the problem with unauthorized immigration divides the country along political party lines. Anti-immigrant and pro-immigrant groups seek for ways by which they can impact their political base. Anti-immigrant groups take advantage of the mass media in order to persuade the electorate their way. Mathematical analysis of unauthorized immigration is used by the mass media to create a “media spectacle” of the issue (Correa-Cabrera 2012). The purpose of said “media spectacle” is to exploit the fears of the American electorate to stand against unauthorized immigration. As a result, many Americans feel encouraged to contact their local representatives to opposed Comprehensive Immigration Reform. For that reason, mathematical data has been

Immigration Reform was enacted in 1965 to change past discriminatory immigration policies. After the 1965 Act, immigration from Asian and Latin America increased dramatically. Although the outcome was not intended to benefit Asian and Latin American countries, it ended up working out in favor in their favor. For Latin America countries, however, the policies restricted the number of legal entries into the US. This created chain migration, resulting in unauthorized immigration after the 1965 act. Family reunification and labor force needs play a major role in creating said problem (Massey 2012).

Ten years after the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 was enacted, public fear of unauthorized immigration grew. Starting in the mid 70s, congressional debate over the issue ensued. After ten year of debate, starting in the mid 70s, Congress passed new legislation to resolve the issue of unauthorized immigration (DeSipio, de la Garza 80).

Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

After the enactment of IRCA in 1986, a new wave of unauthorized immigration was created. Two factors led to an influx during the decade of the 90s, with the larger amount of immigrants coming from Mexico. The first one was the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, and the second was the devaluation of the Mexican Peso in 1995 (Hansen 2009). As a result, new public fear of unauthorized immigration was exploited by politicians like California Governor Pete Wilson (Masuoka, Junn 156). In 1994, California introduced Proposition 187 in the ballot. The purpose of the measure was to fight unauthorized immigration (Hinojosa-Ojeda 2012). Proposition 187 garnered national attention and the federal government responded. For that reason, in 1996 Congress enacted the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (DeSipio, de la Garza 82). Since the influx of the 90s, immigration reform has focused on enforcement mechanisms. In order to resolve the problem created by IRCA, legislation like the 1996 Act has sought to deter unauthorized immigration.

The Dream Act