The Politics of Immigration Reform in the United States, 1981-1990

Abstract

American immigration politics produced two major laws in the 1980s, overcoming formidable obstacles to policy change and unleashing new forces for increased migration when new restrictions seemed likely. This article examines the ideologically mixed coalition behind these changes and the ambiguous, often conflicting policy that was the result. Subsequent struggles within the courts and the administrative presidency to interpret and apply these reforms, the author concludes, have resulted in greater public antipathy toward immigration and also enervated participatory citizenship in the United States.