Lessons Learned: IRCA and Legalization

If broad immigration reform is enacted that includes a legalization component, here are some lessons learned from the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986:

–    Potential applicants were misinformed about the requirements. At the outset, some inaccurately thought they did not qualify. Others inquired and were told that they were ineligible and never learned that requirements (e.g., absences, public charge, reentry with visas) were more liberally construed later.

–    Applicants were discouraged or confused by requirements and procedures themselves. Many did not understand the INS outreach and written materials; others who had not worked had a hard time obtaining supporting documents.

–    Applicants withdrew when intimidated by the INS interviewer.

–    Applicants simply feared and distrusted the INS.

–    Slow investigation and approval by the regional processing facilities deterred applicants.

–    Many worried their application would expose ineligible family members to deportation.

–    Many applicants found the process too expensive (including fees for medical exams, fingerprinting, photographs).

–    Many applicants could not find help.

–    Some parents incorrectly believed that their children were automatically included in the adults’ applications.

–    In spite of outreach efforts by INS and community-based organizations, some potential applicants were unaware of the program until it was too late to apply.

Read more atThe Immigration and Naturalization Service, Community-based Organizations, and the Legalization Experience: Lessons for the Self-Help Immigration Phenomenon, (Download IRCAarticle), 6 Georgetown Immigration Law Journal 413 (1992).

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