Immigration Reform Act of 1986

In November 1986, the Reagan administration passed the Immigration Reform Act (IRCA), which drastically changed the lives of almost three million people living in the United States. The law established a time period where any undocumented immigrant who could prove that they had lived and worked in the United States before January 1, 1982 would be granted amnesty for illegal entry. This meant that the three million undocumented Mexican immigrants living within the United States without papers could now gain legal status as permanent residents or “special agricultural workers”. Not only that, they could also sponsor relatives, also known as “family unification”, which helped to legalize another millions and a half people. While the law provided amnesty to the workers, it was also intended to enforce strict penalties for employers who knowingly hired illegal immigrants. Undocumented Mexican entrants fell from 115,000 before the IRCA to 61,000 per year afterwards- a 47 percent difference. This was not only the effect of the IRCA but also the effect of more restrictive border policies. Border crossings in the post IRCA time period were 47 percent less than they would have been without the IRCA.

North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) of 1994

Although an economic agreement, rather than an immigration policy, NAFTA affected Mexican farmers and villagers greatly. NAFTA ended ejido land grant held by small farmer. Ejido- parcels of land- had been given to peasants who had fought from in the Mexican Revolution 1910 to early 1920s. After the implementation of NAFTA, Ejidatarius had right to sell, rent, sharecrop, or mortgage parcels of land.

While that may seem like a good idea, Mexico withdrew almost all state support to peasant agriculture including subsidies, low-interest or interest-free loads, and so on. The proportion of Mexicans earning living from soil was cut in half. Many had no choice but to sell their ejido land, which displaced many peasants. Mexico also experienced a decline in manufacturing jobs because of competition from Asia and the United States. The peasants responded to this crisis by moving to cities. However, the city job market, being inadequate to absorb this labor, provided no alternative but for Mexicans to migrate north. Mexicans have set out for: California, Texas and Chicago. They have also begun moving to newer destinations such as Georgia, Carolinas, Pacific Northwest, New York metropolitan area.