Immigration Reform

Words: 991
Pages: 4

In recent years, the United States has been at one of its highest points of immigration. Immigrants, or people who are seeking refuge from previous life circumstances and are looking for a new life, are moving to countries like the U.S. in search of change. Immigration has been around for many years and American government has been continually revising the laws concerning immigration to optimize and clarify their purpose. The immigration process and corresponding laws of immigration into the United States have gone through an extensive course throughout the past hundred years alone. The enactment of three specific pieces of legislation- the Immigration and Nationality Act, Refugee Relief Act of 1953, and the Immigration Reform and Control Act-reflect …show more content…
This concern was also a major factor in the admission of refugees from the unsuccessful Hungarian revolution of October 1956. Almost 40,000 Hungarian refugees were admitted to the United States, 6,130 of them having visas while the remainder were under the parole provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (“History of U.S. Immigration Laws”). This was a major change from previous admissions of immigrants and or refugees into American …show more content…
The Immigration Reform and Control Act was designed to balance public concerns about increasing illegal immigration with business’s need for cheap labor and the need to address issues of racial and ethnic discrimination. The final bill focused less on restricting the numbers of immigrants than on putting existing undocumented aliens on the path to citizenship and on deterring further illegal immigration by strengthening border control and employer sanctions (Leckrone). This new piece of legislation legalized aliens who had unlawfully resided in the United States since January 1, 1982, and worked to safeguard them by establishing sanctions that prohibited employers from hiring, recruiting, and referring aliens known to be unauthorized to work in the United States. Also created was a new classification of temporary agricultural workers and the legalization of such workers. The act also and established a visa waiver pilot program allowing the admission of certain nonimmigrants without visas. Furthermore, with this law came separate legislation stipulating that immigrants with marriage-based status be conditional for two years, and that they must apply for permanent status within 90 days after their second-year anniversary. The various changes that made up this law helped to make the law what it is