Amnesties are all too common legislative efforts to officially admit illegal immigrants. Amnesties represent a system of federal rewards and assistance for illegal immigrants and they cause an even greater rate of illegal immigration which is already at a rate of nearly a half a million annually. There are an estimated 6-11 million illegal immigrants currently living in the United States.

According to INS estimates released in October, 2000, the amnesties granted in 1986 as a result of the Immigration Reform and Control Act significantly contributed to an increase in illegal immigration as the relatives of newly legalized illegal immigrants came to the United States to join their family members. Following the 1986 amnesty, illegal immigration increased dramatically to more than 800,000 a year, before dropping back down to around 500,000 a year (for more information see the Center for Immigration Studies report on this at http://www.cis.org/articles/2000/ins1986amnesty.html)

The following amnesties have occurred:

1. Amnesty of 1986: More than 2.7 million illegal aliens, predominantly from Mexico, were awarded lawful permanent residence as a result of the amnesties granted in the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Congress enacted employer sanctions as part of this bill, but they also chose to give the program only token funding.
   
2. Amnesty of 1997: 150,000 Nicaraguans -- 5,000 Cubans. The Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA) was an amnesty program for certain Nicaraguans and Cubans, and a de facto amnesty for certain Salvadorans, Guatemalans and Eastern Europeans. The original bills that were introduced in the House and the Senate, H.R. 2302 and S. 1976, would have benefited only certain Nicaraguans, Salvadorans and Guatemalans. Cubans and Eastern Europeans were added later to mollify the anti-Communist sentiments of some members of Congress. At the same time, opponents of the amnesty tried to negotiate a requirement that the number of aliens granted legal residence under NACARA be subtracted from legal immigration ceilings, but managed only to secure minor reductions in the unskilled worker and lottery categories. In order to avoid lengthy debate on the costs and benefits of the amnesty and to ensure adequate support for it, the bill language was added as an amendment to the appropriations bill for the District of Columbia (H.R. 2607) and passed as part of that bill. The estimated 10 year impact of this action will be an additional 966,480 people added to the U.S. population
   
3. Amnesty of 1998: 50,000 Haitians. The Haitian Refugee Immigration Fairness Act (HRIFA) was an amnesty program for Haitians who had been in the United States since December 1995, along with their spouses and children, as long as they applied for lawful permanent residency before April 1, 2000.. It was passed in the aftermath of the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA), when representatives of a long list of nationalities not included in NACARA claimed that it was discriminatory to refuse them the same special treatment. Haitians were the first group to succeed with this claim. As with NACARA, proponents of HRIFA sought to avoid a full congressional debate of the bill and so added it as an amendment to the omnibus appropriations bill for fiscal year 1999 (H.R. 4328), which was passed by both houses of Congress. The estimated 10 year impact of this Congressional action will be to add 125,000 people to the U.S. population.
   
4. Temporary Hurricane Amnesty of 1998 and 2001: 90,000 Hondurans, 60,000 Nicaraguans have been allowed to stay in U.S. for 18 months. President Clinton approved the first amnesty in 1998 and President Bush just recently extended it for 18 months.
   
5. Late Amnesty of 2000: A result of an agreement between the Clinton White House, Senate Majority Leader Lott and House Speaker Dennis Hastert, this amnesty allowed all illegal aliens who had been part of lawsuits claiming that they have been illegal aliens since before 1982 and should have gotten the 1986 amnesty but for various reasons were denied, to renew their request for the amnesty. This action is expected to apply to about 400,000 illegal immigrants.

Proposed Amnesties in 2001 (most of this information can be found on FAIR's website http://www.fairus.org/html/wrapup.htm#amnesty):

H.R. 707 -- Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ): Expands the 1997 Nicaraguan and Cuban American Relief Act (NACARA) by granting permanent residency status to an estimated additional 600,000 illegal aliens from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Haiti.

S. 562 -- Senator Harry Reid (D-NV): would grant amnesty to all illegal aliens living in the country since 1986. The bill would also institute a rolling amnesty date that would automatically advance one year each year until January 1, 2006.

H.R. 1885 -- Representative George Gekas (R-PA): Section 245(i) permits illegal aliens who were eligible for an immigrant visa, but who were illegally in the U.S., to adjust their status with the INS upon payment of a $1,000 penalty. As part of last year's budget compromise, former President Clinton demanded that 245(i) be reinstated. In a compromise, it was restored for a four-month period ending April 30, 2001. Now that the April 30th deadline has passed once again, the proponents of section 245(i) are clamoring to restore the provision again. This bill would extend section 245(i) for 4 months. Status: 5/21/2001 Passed House by a margin of 336-43.

H.R. 348 -- Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL): Expands the 1997 NACARA amnesty to include an additional 600,000 illegal aliens from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Haiti. Status: 1/31/01 Referred to the House Judiciary Committee

H.R. 500 -- Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL): The bill would grant permanent legal residency to any alien who has been in the country since February 6,1996. In addition, anyone who arrived in the U.S. by February 6, 2001, would be allowed to apply for legal residency after 5 years had passed. This would in effect give every illegal alien currently in the country an amnesty within 5 years. Also, this bill would block deportation of people who have committed crimes in this country and create new visas for aliens married to permanent residents. H.R. 500 would also create a national taskforce on the exploitation of and trafficking in aliens. Status: 02/07/01 Referred to House Judiciary Committee