Reagan, Bush Also Acted Without Congress To Shield Immigrants From Deportation. Nearly three decades ago, there was barely a peep when Reagan and Bush used their authority to extend amnesty to the spouses and minor children of immigrants covered by the 1986 Immigration law. In 1986, Congress and Reagan enacted a sweeping overhaul that gave legal status to up to 3 million immigrants without authorization to be in the country, if they had come to the U.S. before 1982. Spouses and children who could not meet that test did not qualify, which incited protests that the new law was breaking up families. Early efforts in Congress to amend the law to cover family members failed. In 1987, Reagans Immigration and Naturalization Service commissioner announced that minor children of parents granted amnesty by the law would get protection from deportation. Spouses and children of couples in which one parent qualified for amnesty but the other did not remained subject to deportation, leading to efforts to amend the 1986 law. In a parallel to today, the Senate acted in 1989 to broaden legal status to families but the House never took up the bill. Through the INS, Bush advanced a new family fairness policy that put in place the Senate measure. Congress passed the policy into law by the end of the year as part of broader immigration legislation. ~~Grant Deveraux
Posted on: Sat, 15 Nov 2014 23:26:23 +0000
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