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.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BakerS. G.1995“California and Catalunya: The Politics of Immigration Control in the United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain.” Unpublished manuscript.
2.
BakerS. G.1993“Immigration Reform: The Empowerment of a New Constituency.” In Public Policy fir Democracy. Ed. IngramH. and Rathgeb-SmithS.Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution. Pp. 136–158.
3.
BakerS. G.1990The Cautious Welcome: The Legalization Programs of the Immigration Reform and Control Act.Washington, DC: The Urban Institute Press.
4.
BeanF. D., 1994Illegal Mexican Migration and the United States/Mexico Border: The Effects of Operation Hold-the-Line on El Paso and Juarez.Washington, DC: U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform.
5.
BeanF. D., EdmonstonB. and PasselJ.1990Undocumented Migration to the United States: IRCA and the Experience of the 1980s.Washington, DC: The Urban Institute Press.
6.
BeanF. D., LowellB. L. and TaylorL. J.1988“Undocumented Mexican Immigrants and the Earnings of Other Workers in the United States,”Demography, 25:35–52.
7.
BierceA.1925The Devil's Dictionary.New York: A. & C. Boni.
8.
BorjasG.1990Friends or Strangers: The Impact of Immigrants on the U.S. Economy.New York: Basic Books, Inc.
9.
BorjasG. and TiendaM.1993“The Employment and Wages of Legalized Immigrants,”International Migration Review, 27(4):712–747.
10.
CalavitaK.1994“Italy and the New Immigration.” In Controlling Immigration: A Global Perspective. Ed. CorneliusW., MartinP.L. and HollifieldJ. F.Stanford: Stanford University Press. Pp. 303–326.
11.
CorneliusW. A.1994“Spain: The Uneasy Transition from Labor Exporter to Labor Importer.” In Control- ling Immigration: A Global Perspective. Ed. CorneliusW., MartinP. L. and HollifieldJ. F.Stanford: Stanford University Press. Pp. 331–370.
12.
CorneliusW. A., MartinP. L. and HollifieldJ. F.1994“Introduction: The Ambivalent Quest for Immigration Control.”In Controlling Immigration: A Global Perspective. Ed. CorneliusW., MartinP.L. and HollifieldJ. F.Stanford: Stanford University Press. Pp. 3–42.
13.
Department of Labor1995“Effects of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986: Characteristics and Labor Market Behavior of the Legalized for Five Years Following Legalization.”U.S. Department of Labor.Washington, DC. July 27.
14.
DonatoK.1993“Current Trends and Patterns of Female Migration: Evidence from Mexico,”International Migration Review, 27(4):748–771.
15.
DonatoK., DurandJ. and MasseyD.1992“Stemming the Tide? Assessing the Deterrent Effects of the Immigration Reform and Control Act,”Demography, 29(2):139–158.
16.
FixM. and HillP.1990Enforcing Employer Sanctions: Challenges and Strategies.Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press.
17.
FreemanG.1994“Can Liberal States Control Unwanted Migration?”The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 534. July.
18.
Garcia y GriegoM.1994“Canada: Flexibility and Control in Immigration and Refugee Policy.” In Controlling Immigration: A Global Perspective. Ed. CorneliusW., MartinP.L. and HollifieldJ. F.Stanford: Stanford University Press. Pp. 119–140.
19.
HaganJ. M.1994Deciding to be LegalPhiladelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
20.
HaganJ. M. and BakerS. G.1994“Implementing the U.S. Legalization Program: The Influence of Immigrant Communities and Local Organizations on Immigration Policy Reform,”International Migration Review, 27(3):513–536.
21.
HollifieldJ. F.1994“Immigration and Republicanism in France: The Hidden Consensus.” In Controlling Immigration: A Global Perspective. Ed. CorneliusW., MartinP.L. and HollifieldJ. F.Stanford: Stanford University Press. Pp. 143–176.
22.
Hondagneu-SoteloP.1995Gendered Transitions: Mexican Experiences of Immigration.Berkeley: University of California Press.
23.
Immigration and Naturalization Service, U.S. (INS)1994“INS Estimates of Nonimmigrant Overstays, Resident Illegal Alien Population,” Unpublished memorandum.
24.
Immigration and Naturalization Service, U.S. (INS)1992The Immigration Reform and Control Act: Report on the Legalized Alien Population.Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. March.
25.
KoussoudjiS.1992“Playing Cat and Mouse at the U.S.-Mexican Border,”Demography, 29(2):159–181.
26.
Loe v. Thomburgh1989 No. 88 Civ. 7363 (PKL) (S.D. New York). In Litigation Update: Legalization/Special Agricultural Workers.Washington, DC: American Immigration Lawyers Association. June 16.2.
27.
LowellB. L. and JingZ.1994“Unauthorized Workers and Immigration Reform: What Can We Ascertain from Employers?”International Migration Review, 28(3):427–448.
28.
MartinP.L.1994“Good Intentions Gone Awry: IRCA and U.S. Agriculture,”The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 534:44–57. July.
29.
MasseyD.1995“The New Immigration and Ethnicity in the United States,”Population and Development Review, 21(3):631–652.
30.
MasseyD., DonatoK. and LiangZ.1991“Effects of Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986: Preliminary Data from Mexico. In Undocumented Migration to the United States: IRCA and the Experience of the 1980s. Ed. BeanF.Washington, DC: The Urban Institute Press.
31.
MeissnerD. and PapademetriouD.1988The Legalization Countdown: A Third-Quarter Assessment.Washington, DC: The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
32.
MeissnerD., PapademetriouD. and NorthD.1986Legalization of Undocumented Aliens: Lessons from Other Countries.Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
33.
NorthD.1991“IRCA Did Not Do Much to the Labor Market: A Los Angeles County Case Study,”Immigration Policy and Research Working Paper 10.Washington, DC: Department of Labor.
34.
NorthD.1988Decision Factories.Washington, DC: Transcentury Development Associates.
35.
NorthD. and PortzA. M.1989The U.S. Legalization Program.Washington, DC: Transcentury Development Associates.
36.
SorensenE. and BeanF.1994“Immigration Reform and the Wages of Mexican Origin Workers: Evidence from Current Population Surveys,”Social Science Quarterly, 75(1):1–17. March.
37.
SnowdenL.1990“Collective versus Mass Behavior: A Conceptual Framework for Temporary and Permanent Migration in Western Europe and the United States,”International Migration Review, 24:577–590.
38.
WarrenR. and PasselJ.1987“A Count of the Uncountable: Estimates of Undocumented Aliens Counted in the 1980 U.S. Census,”Demography, 24(3):375–393.
