The Immigration Reform and Control Act, Pub.L. 99–603, 100 Stat. 3445, enacted November 6,
1986, also known as the Simpson-Mazzoli Act, signed into law by Ronald Reagan on November
6, 1986, is an Act of Congress which reformed United States immigration law. The Act
required employers to attest to their employees' immigration status;
made it illegal to hire or recruit illegal immigrants knowingly;
legalized certain seasonal agricultural illegal immigrants, and;
legalized illegal immigrants who entered the United States before January 1, 1982 and had
resided there continuously with the penalty of a fine, back taxes due, and admission of
guilt; candidates were required to prove that they were not guilty of crimes, that they
were in the country before January 1, 1982, and that they possessed minimal knowledge
about U.S. history, government, and the English language.
At the time, the Immigration and Naturalization Service estimated that about four million
illegal immigrants would apply for legal status through the act and that roughly half of them
would be eligible.
Legislative background and description Romano L. Mazzoli was a Democratic representative
from Kentucky and Alan K. Simpson was a Republican senator from Wyoming who chaired their respective
immigration subcommittees in Congress. Their effort was assisted by the recommendations
of the bipartisan Commission on Immigration Reform, chaired by Rev. Theodore Hesburgh,
then President of the University of Notre Dame.
The law criminalized the act of engaging in a "pattern or practice" of knowingly hiring
an "unauthorized alien" and established financial and other penalties for those employing illegal
immigrants under the theory that low prospects for employment would reduce undocumented immigration.
Regulations promulgated under the Act introduced the I-9 form to ensure that all employees
presented documentary proof of their legal eligibility to accept employment in the United
States. These sanctions would apply only to employers
that had more than three employees and did not make a sufficient effort to determine
the legal status of their workers. The first Simpson-Mazzoli Bill was reported
out of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees. The bill failed to be received by the House,
but civil rights advocates were concerned over the potential for abuse and discrimination
against Hispanics, growers' groups rallied for additional provisions for foreign labor,
and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce persistently opposed sanctions against employers.
The second Simpson-Mazzoli Bill finally passed both chambers in 1985, but it came apart in
the conference committee over the issue of cost. The year marked an important turning
point for the reform effort. Employer opposition to employer sanctions began to subside, partly
because of the "affirmative defense" clause in the law that explicitly released employers
from any obligation to check the authenticity of workers' documents.
Also, agricultural employers shifted their focus from opposition to employer sanctions
to a concerted campaign to secure alternative sources of foreign labor. As opposition to
employer sanctions waned and growers' lobbying efforts for extensive temporary worker programs
intensified, agricultural worker programs began to outrank employer sanctions component
as the most controversial element of reform. Impact
On labor market According to one study, the IRCA caused some
employers to discriminate against workers who appeared foreign, resulting in a small
reduction in overall Hispanic employment. There is no statistical evidence that a reduction
in employment correlated to unemployment in the economy as a whole or was separate from
the general unemployment population statistics. Another study stated that if hired, wages
were being lowered to compensate employers for the perceived risk of hiring foreigners.
The hiring process also changed as employers turned to indirect hiring through subcontractors.
"Under a subcontracting agreement, a U.S. citizen or resident alien contractually agrees
with an employer to provide a specific number of workers for a certain period of time to
undertake a defined task at a fixed rate of pay per worker". "By using a subcontractor
the firm is not held liable since the workers are not employees. The use of a subcontractor
decreases a worker's wages since a portion is kept by the subcontractor. This indirect
hiring is imposed on everyone regardless of legality".
On illegal immigration See also
Immigration Immigration to the United States
DREAM Act Foreign Worker Visa
Alan Simpson Romano L. Mazzoli
Arnoldo Torres Labor economics
History of immigration to the United States References
External links Summary of the Bill from "Thomas" for the
Library of Congress Detailed legislative history of Simpson-Mazzoli
from introduction to Presidential signature, also from "Thomas" for the Library of Congress
Statement on Signing the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
September 2006 article by Mazzoli and Simpson revisiting the legislation in the current
political climate "Independent Task Force on Immigration and
America’s Future" "Full text of Pub. L 99-603"