Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

Acronyms (colloquial)	IRCA
Nicknames	Simpson–Mazzoli Act/Reagan Amnesty
Enacted by	the 99th United States Congress
Effective	Signed into law by Ronald Reagan on November 6, 1986
Citations
Public law	Pub. L. 99–603
Statutes at Large	100 Stat. 3445
Codification
Titles amended	8 U.S.C.: Aliens and Nationality
U.S.C. sections amended	8 U.S.C. ch. 12 § 1101 et seq.
Legislative history
Introduced in the Senate as S. 1200 by Alan Simpson (R–WY) on May 23, 1985 Committee consideration by Senate Judiciary, Senate Budget Passed the Senate on September 19, 1985 (69–30) Passed the House on October 9, 1986 (voice vote after incorporating H.R. 3810, passed 230–166) Reported by the joint conference committee on October 14, 1986; agreed to by the House on October 15, 1986 (238–173) and by the Senate on October 17, 1986 (63–24) Signed into law by President Ronald Reagan on November 6, 1986
United States Supreme Court cases
McNary v. Haitian Refugee Center, Inc., 498 U.S. 479 (1991) Reno v. Catholic Social Services, Inc., 509 U.S. 43 (1993) Hoffman Plastic Compounds, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Board, 535 U.S. 137 (2002) Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting, 563 U.S. 582 (2011) Arizona v. United States, 567 U.S. 387 (2012) Kansas v. Garcia, No. 17-834, 589 U.S. ___ (2020)

The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA or the Simpson–Mazzoli Act) was passed by the 99th United States Congress and signed into law by U.S. President Ronald Reagan on November 6, 1986.

The Immigration Reform and Control Act legalized most illegal immigrants who had arrived in the country prior to January 1, 1984. The act altered U.S. immigration law by making it illegal to knowingly hire illegal immigrants, and establishing financial and other penalties for companies that employed illegal immigrants.