1986 AMNESTY LAW IS SEEN AS FAILING TO SLOW ALIEN TIDE

N Y Times 1989

”We have found no evidence that the 1986 immigration law has shut off the flow of new undocumented migrants,” said Wayne Cornelius, director of the Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies at the University of California at San Diego. A Decade of Study

New York Times HERE

The most sweeping effort to halt illegal immigration in American history, the 1986 overhaul of immigration law, may have cut the flow of illegal aliens less than expected and may have actually encouraged unlawful entry in several ways.

Two years after it began to take effect, experts around the country are starting to draw conclusions about the law’s effect. As thousands of people continue to enter the country illegally every day, the first arguments are being entered in a debate over whether the legislation has achieved its goals, and whether it ever will.

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“I don’t think anyone says that it deterred illegal immigration,” says Cecilia Muñoz, vice president of The National Council of La Raza, the nation’s largest Latino advocacy group. “But it succeeded in legalizing 3 million people”.

CSM HERE

And now, “It’s déjà vu all over again,” Mazzoli says. “These are the same issues that we had 20 years ago.”