smuggling illegal immigrants into the country and
for producing or using fraudulent documents. The
new law also limited the ability of noncitizens to chal-
lenge Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS)
decisions in court.
The 1996 law, however, did not provide the INS
with any effective means for cracking down on em-
ployers who hired illegal immigrants. Although em-
ployers were required to ask for documentation,
they had no effective ways to determine whether
documents were counterfeit or authentic. By 1999,
the INS had stopped raiding companies and farms
to round up immigrants working without proper
documentation.Timemagazine reported in 2004
that the number of fines imposed on employers ac-
tually decreased by 99 percent during the 1990’s.
Moreover, when persons were arrested for attempt-
ing to cross the Mexican border illegally, they were
simply sent back to Mexico, without any effective way
to keep them from trying again.
Impact While illegal immigrants made up less than
5 percent of the U.S. workforce, they had a signifi-
cant impact on the economy in many parts of the
country. Although experts disagreed about whether
this impact was primarily beneficial or pernicious,
the majority of Americans agreed that it was impor-
tant for the country to enforce its immigration laws.
However, all attempts during the 1990’s to stem the
inflow of illegal immigrants were manifestly unsuc-
cessful. Thus, their numbers would continue to
grow, reaching an estimated 10 million by 2006.
Further Reading
Borjas, George J.Heaven’s Door: Immigration Policy
and the American Economy. Princeton, N.J.: Prince-
ton University Press, 2000. A Harvard economist’s
argument in favor of encouraging additional im-
migrants with high skills while discouraging the
entry of low-skilled workers.
Dow, Mark.American Gulag: Inside U.S. Immigration
Prisons. Berkeley: University of California Press,
- An examination of immigrant detention,
arguing that prisoners suffered from widespread
abuses and the denial of legal rights.
Haerens, Margaret.Illegal Immigration. Detroit: Green-
haven Press, 2006. Clearly written chapters with op-
posing perspectives on topics like immigration law,
border patrol, the guest-worker proposal, and
racism.
Huntington, Samuel P.Who Are We: The Challenges to
America’s National Identity. New York: Simon &
Schuster, 2004. A Harvard professor’s argument
that large mass immigration, especially from
Latin America, has significant disadvantages.
Jacoby, Tamar, ed.Reinventing the Melting Pot: The
New Immigration and What It Means to Be an Ameri-
can. New York: Basic Books, 2004. Essays with
strongly different views on the ways in which re-
cent waves of immigration have changed the
country.
Katel, Peter, Patrick Marshall, and Alan Greenblatt.
“Illegal Immigration.” InIssues for Debate in Ameri-
can Public Policy: Selections from the CQ Researcher,
edited by CQ Press. 8th ed. Washington D.C.: CQ
Press, 2008. A good summary of statistics and ar-
guments on the various sides of the issue.
Lin, Ann, and Nicole Green, eds.Immigration. Wash-
ington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2002. A useful collection
of essays about the immigration policies of the
United States and other countries.
Thomas Tandy LewisSee also Demographics of Canada; Demographics
of the United States; Immigration to Canada; Immi-
gration to the United States; Latinos; Mexico and
the United States. Immigration Act of 1990
Identification Immigration law that significantly
altered U.S. immigration policy
Date Enacted November 11, 1990; went into
effect October 1, 1991
The Immigration Act of 1990 made important changes in
U.S. immigration law that resulted in major changes in the
size and composition of immigrant flows to the United
States.
The Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965
ended the racial/ethnic quota system for issuing im-
migration visas that heavily favored Northern and
Western European countries. The Immigration Act
of 1990, while retaining the focus on reducing
racial/ethnic bias, initiated comprehensive changes
in U.S. immigration law. The 1965 law had limited
annual visas to 290,000 worldwide; the 1990 act
raised the number to 700,000 for the first three
years, and 675,000 thereafter. Three categoriesThe Nineties in America Immigration Act of 1990 441