Central American Asylum Seekers: Impact of 1996 Immigration Law (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Nov. 21, 1997 |
| Report Number |
97-810 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Ruth Ellen Wasem, Education and Public Welfare Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
In enacting the Illegal Immigrant Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) of 1996 (Division C of P.L. 104-208), Congress rewrote provisions in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) that pertain to the circumstances under which certain aliens subject to expulsion from the United States may become legal residents. How aliens are affected by these statutory changes is being played out most vividly in the cases of Central Americans who first came to seek asylum the United States in the 1980s. As many as 300,000 Nicaraguans, Salvadorans, and Guatemalans are potentially affected by these revisions. The Attorney General has the discretionary authority under the INA to grant relief from deportation and adjustment of status to otherwise illegal aliens who meet a certain set of criteria. This avenue, formerly known as suspension of deportation, is now called cancellation of removal. In addition to changing the name, IIRIRA established tighter standards for obtaining this relief. IIRIRA also established a cap on the number who could receive cancellation of removal -- 4,000 each fiscal year. It appears that the Nicaraguans, Salvadorans, and Guatemalans were fleeing civil conflicts in their native countries throughout the 1980s. Nonetheless the Central Americans came as 'illegal' immigrants crossing the southern U.S. border without proper documents; most were denied asylum and placed in deportation proceedings. Yet, policy decisions -- notably the creation of the Nicaraguan Review Office in 1987 and an out-of-court settlement of the American Baptist Churches v. Thornburgh case in 1990 -- enabled these otherwise deportable aliens to remain in the United States with employment authorizations.
