The “Amnesty” Aftermath: Current Policy Issues Stemming from the Legalization Programs of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act

Abstract

The 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) created two one-time only legalization programs affecting nearly 3 million undocumented immigrants. Legalization has produced important changes among immigrants and in immigration policy. These changes include new patterns of immigrant social and economic adaptation to the United States and new immigrant flows through family ties to IRCA-legalized aliens. The heightened salience of immigration, produced in part by legalization, has also generated a wave of “backlash” policymaking at the state and local levels in high-immigration sites. This article combines data from a longitudinal survey of the IRCA-legalized population with qualitative field data on current immigration issues from key informants in eight high-immigration metropolitan areas. It reviews the political evolution and early implementation of legalization, the current socioeconomic position of legalized aliens, and changes in the immigration “policy space” resulting from legalization. Aldiough restrictive policies have again captured public attention, legalization has also sparked renewed efforts at immigration advocacy, particularly where immigrants who adjust to U.S. citizenship hold the potential for influencing local politics.