A Look At How Congress Has Dealt With Immigration Over The Last 25 Years

-- A look at how Congress has dealt with immigration in the past 25 years:

1986: The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 both tightens controls on illegal immigration and extends amnesty for many undocumented immigrants. It requires that employers attest to employees' immigration status and make it illegal to hire or recruit undocumented immigrants. It also grants amnesty to some seasonal agricultural workers and to undocumented immigrants who entered the United States prior to 1982 and have lived in the country continuously.

1990: The Immigration Act of 1990 created a lottery program that randomly assigned a number of visas, and increased the number of immigrants allowed into the country each year. The law also included exceptions for the English-language portion of the naturalization test.

1996: Under President Bill Clinton, several pieces of legislation are enacted that crack down on various facets of immigration. Specifically, there is a sharp increase in the categories of criminal activity for which immigrants, including permanent residents, can be deported. The laws also impose mandatory detention for certain types of deportation cases, and as a result deportation rates skyrocket.

Sept. 11, 2001: Terrorists attack New York and Washington, D.C., killing nearly 3,000 people. The events put immigration under a microscope because the attackers were foreigners, and change the way many politicians and Americans view immigration. Former Mexican President Vicente Fox goes so far as to say that if it were not for the attacks, Congress would have passed reform legislation that benefited Mexican emigration to America.

2003: The Supreme Court upholds mandatory detention regardless of flight risk for any immigrant offender, even permanent residents.

2005: In 2005 and 2006, Congress holds field hearings on immigration and border security across the country. The Senate introduces a significant bipartisan effort to create a path for legalization for many undocumented immigrants.

December 2005: The House passes a bill criminalizing undocumented immigrants, sparking massive pro-immigrant protests nationwide. The Senate refuses to take it up.

May 2006: Instead of the House bill, the Senate passes a tougher version of a bill crafted by Sens. John McCain, R-Arizona, and Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., which includes a path to legal residency for many undocumented immigrants.

October 2006: The fiscal year 2007 budget boosts funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement by more than 20 percent, about $1 billion more than President George Bush requested, mostly for detention and transport of immigrants.

November 2008: President Barack Obama is elected, and Democrats sweep both chambers of Congress, giving hope that a major immigration reform bill will be enacted. Obama had signaled interest in reform that included enhanced border enforcement, crackdowns on people who overstay their visa and employers who hire undocumented immigrants and a path to citizenship for some undocumented immigrants.

2009: A comprehensive immigration reform bill introduced in the House fails despite efforts by the Obama administration to get it traction.

April 2010: Saying the Congress had failed to enforce U.S. immigration laws, Arizona passes a law to crack down on various facets of undocumented immigration. Most controversial is that the law directs police to ask for immigration papers from anyone they stop or arrest who they suspect may be in the country illegally.

December 2010: The so-called Dream Act, which would allow undocumented immigrant students a path to citizenship, passes the House in the lame duck session. The Senate GOP filibusters, effectively killing the bill.

April 2012: The Supreme Court takes up the Arizona law. While a decision isn't expected until June, during initial arguments the justices appear to have little issue with provisions requiring police to check the legal status of people they stop for other reasons.

Also on HuffPost:

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• The Naturalization Act of 1790

  The Naturalization Act of 1790 was our country's first set of laws dealing with citizenship. Applicants had to be "<a href="http://rs6.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=001/llsl001.db&recNum=226 " target="_hplink">a free white person</a>" of "good moral character." This excluded indentured servants and slaves. Good moral character was substantiated by establishing residence for at least one year in the state from where he was applying, and at least two years of residence in the country. The Naturalization Act of 1795 would extend that requirement to five years, and is still standard today.

• The Fourteenth Amendment, 1868

  A Reconstruction Amendment that was added to the U.S. Constitution following the Civil War, the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment establishes for the first time that children born on U.S. soil would be conferred U.S. citizenship regardless of their parent's citizenship status, race, or place of birth. Last year, Rep. Steve King (R-IA) introduced the <a href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr140 " target="_hplink">Birthright Citizenship Act of 2011</a> to Congress, and challenged this. The bill would require that at least one parent be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident for a child to be granted citizenship. According to the <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h140/text " target="_hplink">bill's text</a>, the Birthright Citizenship Act of 2011 would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, and "clarify those classes of individuals born in the United States who are nationals and citizens of the United States at birth." Prior to this, Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA) <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/26/nathan-deal-georgia-lawma_n_207485.html " target="_hplink">introduced</a> a similar <a href="http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h1868/show" target="_hplink">bill</a> in 2009.

• The Naturalization Act of 1870

  The Naturalization Act of 1870<a href="http://thepoliticsofimmigration.org/pages/chronology.htm " target="_hplink"> explicitly extended</a> naturalization laws to "aliens of African nativity and persons of African descent." This meant that for the first time, African-American children would be conferred citizenship upon birth. Asian immigrants and other people of color are excluded per the Naturalization Acts of 1790 and 1795.

• The Page Act of 1875

  Named after Republican Representative Horace F. Page, this is the first U.S. federal immigration law to explicitly prohibit the immigration of a particular group: persons of Asian descent. Primarily meant to limit Chinese immigrant labor and prostitution, the Page Act prohibited the immigration of: (1) contracted labor from "China, Japan, or any Oriental country" that was not "free and voluntary," (2) Chinese prostitution and (3) criminals and women who would engage in prostitution. Ultimately, the <a href="http://www.uchastings.edu/racism-race/pageact.html " target="_hplink">Page Act</a> severely <a href="http://immigration-online.org/228-page-act-united-states-1875.html " target="_hplink">restricted</a> the immigration of Asian women. Only 136 of the the nearly 40,000 Chinese immigrants who arrived in the months before the bill's enforcement were women. And, it would pave the way for the Chinese Exclusion Act. In this picture, Michael Lin, chair of the 1882 Project, a coalition of rights groups seeking a statement of regret over that year's Chinese Exclusion Act, speaks on May 26, 2011 in Washington, DC, at the US House of Representatives in front of a reproduction of a 19th-century sign that aimed at rousing up sentiment against Chinese Americans. Lawmakers introduced a bill that would offer an official statement of regret for the act, which banned further immigration of Chinese to the United States and ended citizenship rights for ethnic Chinese. (AFP PHOTO/SHAUN TANDON).

• The Chinese Exclusion Act, 1882

  Signed by President Chester A. Arthur, the <a href="http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/seven/chinxact.htm " target="_hplink">Chinese Exclusion Act</a> was the first federal immigration law to prohibit immigration on the basis of race. The bill barred all Chinese laborers, skilled and unskilled, from immigrating to the U.S. for ten years. It was made permanent by 1903, and was not lifted until the 1943 Magnuson Act. The 1898 Supreme Court <a href="http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/immigration/exclusion.html " target="_hplink">decision</a> in <em>United States v. Wong Kim Ark</em> finally extended naturalization laws to persons of Chinese descent by ruling that anyone born in the United States was indeed a U.S. citizen. This editorial cartoon from 1882 shows a Chinese man being excluded from entry to the "Golden Gate of Liberty." The sign next to the iron door reads, "Notice--Communist, Nihilist, Socialist, Fenian & Hoodlum welcome. But no admittance to Chinamen." At the bottom, the caption reads, "THE ONLY ONE BARRED OUT. Enlightened American Statesman--'We must draw the line <em>somewhere</em>, you know.'" (Image Source: Frank Leslie's illustrated newspaper, vol. 54 (1882 April 1), p. 96. [Public domain], via <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_only_one_barred_out_cph.3b48680.jpg" target="_hplink">Wikimedia Commons</a>).

• The Naturalization Act of 1906

  The Naturalization Act of 1906 further <a href="http://www.understandingrace.org/history/gov/eastern_southern_immigration.html" target="_hplink">defined</a> the naturalization process: the ability to speak English was made a <a href="http://www.enotes.com/topic/Naturalization_Act_of_1906" target="_hplink">requisite</a> for immigrants to adjust their status.

• The Immigration Act of 1924

  U.S. President Coolidge signed this U.S. federal <a href="http://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/ImmigrationAct " target="_hplink">bill</a> into law. It capped the number of immigrants who could be admitted entry to the U.S. and barred immigration of persons who were not eligible for naturalization. And, as the Naturalization Act of 1790 required, an immigrant had to be white in order to naturalize. The quotas varied by country. Image Source: Flickr Creative Commons, <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nycmarines/6306315902/" target="_hplink">NYCMarines</a>.

• The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (The McCarran-Walter Act)

  The <a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:zwaVG82lZisJ:www-rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/polsciwb/brianl/docs/1952McCarranWaltersAct.pdf+&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjEwx76FIBTixZAfyncZz-1CSuSeciv5qB6vvWTrUfW58XRpXq8zkpnI57XSuuG5Bu-WSySGbEhxYvZxP7y6qDQuOsDhgDa6qUqUaJ8F4imTzKJsVtppHc_-eew2dK6vGhoIUZs&sig=AHIEtbTNQ5GFiNMVS-xyThq8VVSj_gG9KA " target="_hplink">McCarran-Walter Act</a> kept up the controversial Immigration Act of 1924, but <a href="http://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/ImmigrationAct" target="_hplink">formally</a> ended Asian exclusion.

• Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965

  When President Lyndon Johnson signed the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, it <a href="http://library.uwb.edu/guides/USimmigration/1965_immigration_and_nationality_act.html" target="_hplink">abolished</a> the quota system that favored immigration from Europe and limited immigration from Asia and South America.

• Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996

  The 1996 <a href="http://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/PUBLAW/HTML/PUBLAW/0-0-0-10948.html " target="_hplink">Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act</a> (IIRIRA) is a piece of legislation that <a href="http://library.uwb.edu/guides/usimmigration/1996_illegal_immigration_reform_and_immigrant_responsibility_act.html " target="_hplink">defined</a> an array of issues to do with legal and illegal immigration -- from outlining how border patrol agents should administer visa processing, to the minutiae of how to handle deportation proceedings -- IIRIRA established enforcement and patrolling practices.

Comments

[justsome]

03:47 PM on 05/09/2012

the bottom line, why in congress even entertaining this???? the mexican government isn't going to give an illegal (american) perks.

[pvbeachbum]

09:01 AM on 05/03/2012

what this article fails to address is the IRS ruling that gives illegal aliens ID numbers that allow them to file IRS forms, using these forms to take advantage of the $1,000/child credit U.S. taxpayers are allowed. These illegal aliens, mostly Mexicans, have claimed more than $500 biilion dollars in taxpayer fraud by first being able to make this claim....and second, claiming more more children than they actually have!!!! In fact, one family claimed 26 children....24 of who reside in Mexico!!!! IRS STOP THIS FRAUD....TODAY. NO DREAM ACT AND NO AMNESTY.

[Jerry Bourbon]

02:50 PM on 05/03/2012

You do NOT get child tax credit if the child has an ITIN number. Starting this year, you will NOT get Additional child tax credit if the kid is a US citizen but YOU have an ITIN number.

[pvbeachbum]

04:13 PM on 05/03/2012

who is monitoring the itin num bers? certainly not the irs. the fraud will continue.

[Buzzm1]

12:59 AM on 05/03/2012

Congress hasn't done anything since:

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. AKA> Simpson-Mazzoli Act
In brief the act:
• required employers to attest to their employees' immigration status.
• made it illegal to knowingly hire or recruit unauthorized immigrants.

STAND, AND DEMAND, that our existing Federal laws against illegal immigration, be enforced

Mandate, and ENFORCE, with sharp teeth, E-VERIFY

Only 370,000 out of 7 million businesses are currently using E-Verify

there are over 7 million illegal immigrants working in NON-AG JOBS
Mandatory E-Verify would provide jobs for 7 million Americans.

[greyhound2]

04:30 PM on 05/03/2012

The only companies who do not use E-verify are the ones who hire illegals. They can not exist without a large pool of unprotected workers to exploit while they dump the social costs of welfare, healthcare and education on the backs of local property owners. Mandatory e-verify.

[dtairtime]

08:54 PM on 05/02/2012

If amnesty or anything that allows illegals the ability to stay helped slow or stop the problem then a sane person would think this country has no illegals. After all we have had 7 amnesties and that should have solved it by now shouldn't it?

1. Immigration and Reform Control Act (IRCA), 1986: A blanket amnesty for some 2.7 million illegal aliens
2. Section 245(i) Amnesty, 1994: A temporary rolling amnesty for 578,000 illegal aliens
3. Section 245(i) Extension Amnesty, 1997: An extension of the rolling amnesty created in 1994
4. Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) Amnesty, 1997: An amnesty for close to one million illegal aliens from Central America
5. Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act Amnesty (HRIFA), 1998: An amnesty for 125,000 illegal aliens from Haiti
6. Late Amnesty, 2000: An amnesty for some illegal aliens who claim they should have been amnestied under the 1986 IRCA amnesty, an estimated 400,000 illegal aliens
7. LIFE Act Amnesty, 2000: A reinstatement of the rolling Section 245(i) amnesty, an estimated 900,000 illegal aliens

Instead the problem grows more after each one. Yet when we use enforcement only techniques their numbers decline as we have seen in AZ and AL.

[Snake1994]

04:40 PM on 05/02/2012

Immigration reform didn't work in 86, and it won't work now, because Mexico wants to use our whole quota for the amount of legal immigrants that become US citizens every year.

[magyart]

11:22 AM on 05/02/2012

We need federal E-Verify or state by state E-Verify:

Dave Camp, (R) the Chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, is refusing to release his hold on the 50-state E-Verify bill. His committee has jurisdiction over identity theft. He is unwilling to allow the E-Verify bill to stop illegal aliens from stealing Social Security numbers to obtain U.S. jobs.

If you are really feeling energetic, why don't you put in a phone call to one of Mr. Camp's offices:

202-225-3625 Washington, DC (Ways & Means)
202-225-3561 Washington, DC (personal office)
202-224-3121 Washington, DC (Capitol switchboard)
989-631-2552 Midland, Mich. (district office)
231-929-4711 Traverse City, Mich. (district office)

[greyhound2]

09:39 AM on 05/03/2012

E-verify needs to be made mandatory as the current voluntary program is a joke.

[voyager48]

10:45 AM on 05/02/2012

Immigration is not a new issue and our laws have been tested for longer than the 25 year horizon outlined here. Precedent exists in case law showing that state and city police are perfectly entitled to enforce civil and criminal provisions of federal law - including immigration. Probable cause and reasonable suspicion are the cornerstone of all of our law enforcement so to say that it fails to work for immigration means that there is no way to enforce any of our laws in a race neutral manner..

The courts have to adjudicate the laws as written and interpret the intent of congress and the constitution. The only provision of SB1070 that might be contentions is where it goes beyond federal laws and makes it a state crime to be here illegally. Other than that there is no conflict and SCOTUS has to conclude that the majority of SB1070 should stand.

[inthedesert]

07:52 PM on 05/02/2012

Millions of Americans are hoping this will happen. I think then many other states will follow Arizona's path to laws targeting illegals in America. This is the only way, with E-Verify, to stop the invasion of America by illegals from other countries and specifically Mexico which accounts for over 60% of illegals in America.