UNITED STATES POLICIES HAVE fONSIS- abusestemming fromtheernployersanctions program, w hile tently failed to limit or regulate immigration in the undocumented immigration continues to grow. intended way.* The 1965 Amendment to the Immigration In November 1990 a new bill was signed into law that andNaturalization Actcontained aratherelahorate system of goes a step fu rther in recognizing the demand of the U.S. less than expected hut still a significant number. In addition, 1.2 million applied under special legalization programs for agriculture. Them is growing evidence of discrimination and quotas meant to open the borders in a way that would allow labor market as a criterion for immigration. Past policy the government to control entries and deter illegal immigra- aimed at ad mitting one out of ten immigrants for labor tion.** The law’s emphasis on family reunification, it was market reason s; the new law raises this to five. The actual thought, wouldensure that the bulkof new immigrants would weight of labo r market reasons is probably even higher. come from those countries that had already sent large num- Immigrants, w hile only ubout 7% of the U.S. labor force, bers to the United States primarily Europe. have accounted for 22% of the growth in the work force But the dramatic rise in immigration al’ter 1965 consisted since 1970. and are expected to constitute 25% of that growth mostlyofa new waveof migration fromtheCarihbean Basin, in the I 990s. The closer immigration policy comes to recog- and South and Southt Asia. Furthermore, not only did nizing the actual dynamics of immigration, the more likely Mexican undocumented immigration increase shiuply but a it will be to succeed in its intended aim of effective whole series of new undocumented flows were initiated, regulation. SS* mostly from the same countries as legal immigration. The furor over illegal immigration led to a series of * An exception were the agreements that baned Chinese labor congressional proposals that culminated in the Immigration immigrarion (1882). restricted Japanese immigration (I 907). and Refomm and Control Act of 1986. This law contained a culminated in the 1 924 National Origins Act. This t was the fmt limitedregularization program whereby undocumented aliens general immigration law in that it brought together the growing who could prove their continuous residence in the United number of restrictions and cnnhxils that had been established over a States since before January 1. 1982 and meet certain other perkxt of time: the creation of classes ot inadmissible aliens, ifrpor- eligibility critcriacould Iegalizcthcirstatus. It also contained tation laws, literacy muirements. etc. sanctions against employers who knowingly hire undocu- The 1965 Act sought to eliminate sevemal highly discminminatory mented workers, mmd an extended guost worker program of earlier mnimigratmon law and to regulate the mnflu of immigrants by setting upa system of preterence categones within the designed to ensure a continuing and abundant supply of low- general quow. Under the preference cystem, the primary nihanism wttge workers for agriculture. tbr immigration was family reunification and to a lessere’stent. entry The 1986 law had mixed results. About 1.8 million in occupational categories with labor shortage.s. such as nurses and undocumented immigrants applied to regularize their status, nannies.
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