In the earlier decades, many foreigners would move to America looking for a new job or even a new home. The United States then began to flood with immigrants. Meanwhile, the congress couldn’t control the income or actions of these immigrants, so they decided to pass laws. This laws would restrict the immigrants ability to do what they pleased, so that they had some type of authority over them.
In 1986, the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) was signed into law by Ronald Reagan to control the high rates of illegal immigration. This act is also known as the Simpson-Mazzoli Act and the 1986 Amnesty. IRCA’s purpose was that it allowed millions of unauthorized immigrants to apply for legal status. They weren’t able to apply for any jobs if they weren’t legal. The employers had to know the identities of those applying before they were hired. This is what this act was passed to accomplish.
The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act, also known as CIRA, was passed by the Senate in May of 2006. This bill was made to deal with border security, interior enforcement and worksite enforcement, and the establishment of a temporary guest worker program. CIRA was also made to give a chance to gain citizenship for a majority of undocumented immigrants already in the country. The outcome of the bill was a dramatic increase in legal immigration.
There was another Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act in 2007, which was also introduced by the Senate. This act’s goal also was to provide legal status and citizenship to undocumented immigrants in the United States. It also had a huge focus on border security and enforcement provisions. There wasn’t a big difference between the CIRA of 2006 and of 2007, because they were basically the same.
For many years, the laws on immigration have been inconsistent due to the government’s process of enforcing them. This is because they threaten to deport immigrants one year, then offer free care the next. I, as a future leader of America, have a few ideas on how to solve this issue. First, we need to have secure borders, so illegal immigrants can’t wander into the U.S. Next, with the immigrants already in America, they should be able to live peacefully, as long as they don’t break the law or cause disturbance in the society. Lastly, the illegal or criminal immigrants should be sent back to their home country. These are just a couple of ideas that I have on the issue of immigration.
