The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRAIRA),Division C of This article in most part is based on law of the United States, including statutory and latest published case law. is a law enacted as division C of the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act of 1997 which made major changes to the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (INA). IIRAIRA's changes became effective on April 1, 1997.
Former United States President Bill Clinton asserted that the legislation strengthened "the rule of law by cracking down on illegal immigration at the border, in the workplace, and in the criminal justice system—without punishing those living in the United States legally". However, IIRAIRA has been criticized as overly punitive and intensifying border militarization. With IIRAIRA, all aliens, regardless of legal status, were liable to removal and it expanded types of transgressions that could lead to removal.
Proponents of the IIRAIRA contend the law was necessary to end loopholes present beforehand in US immigration policy, which undermined the immigration system. A major motivator behind IIRAIRA was to deter further illegal immigration into the US, but the success in achieving this has been mixed, with both an increase in deportation since IIRAIRA was enacted in 1996, from around 50,000 to over 200,000 by the beginning of the 2000s, and also in illegal immigration since the enactment of IIRAIRA.
Before IIRAIRA, nonimmigrants who overstayed their visas or violated their conditions of admission were required to pay a fine, but were not restricted from later adjusting status to that of a lawful permanent resident. Since IIRAIRA, a non-immigrant who overstays their visa by one day or longer is ineligible to renew their visa. If they overstay their visa by a period between 180 and 365 days, they face a 3-year bar to reentry while an alien who overstays their visa beyond a year faces a 10-year bar.
Public charge IIRAIRA imposed new regulations concerning public charge determinations for aliens seeking admission. IIRAIRA requires that the individual(s) petitioning a family-sponsored immigrant must provide an affidavit of support.Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104-120, 110 stat. 300-675 §551(a)(1)(A). (1996).
SEC. 551. Requirements for Sponsor's Affidavit of Support.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 213A (8 U.S.C. 1183a), as inserted by section 423(a) of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, is amended to read as follows:
Requirements for Sponsor's Affidavit of Support.
SEC. 213A. (a) ENFORCEABILITY.—
(1) TERMS OF AFFIDAVIT.—No affidavit of support may be accepted by the Attorney General or by any consular officer to establish that an alien is not excludable as a public charge under section 212(a)(4) unless such affidavit is executed by a sponsor of the alien as a contract—
(A) in which the sponsor agrees to provide support to maintain the sponsored alien at an annual income that is not less than 125 percent of the Federal poverty line during the period in which the affidavit is enforceable;
(B) that is legally enforceable against the sponsor by the sponsored alien, the Federal Government, any State (or any political subdivision of such State), or by any other entity that provides any means-tested public benefit (as defined in subsection (e)), consistent with the provisions of this section; and
(C) in which the sponsor agrees to submit to the jurisdiction of any Federal or State court for the purpose of actions brought under subsection (b)(2). In the affidavit, the petitioner must "agree to provide support to maintain the sponsored alien at an annual income that is not less than 125 percent of the federal poverty guidelines" until the alien naturalizes as a U.S. citizen or the alien, the alien's parent, or the alien's spouse has worked for 40 qualifying quarters.Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104-120. 110 Stat. 300-675-676 §231A(a)(3)(A), §231A (a)(3)(B)(i), §231A (a)(3)(B)(ii). (1996).
(2) PERIOD OF ENFORCEABILITY.—An affidavit of support
shall be enforceable with respect to benefits provided for an alien before the date the alien is naturalized as a citizen of the United States, or, if earlier, the termination date provided under paragraph (3).
(3) Termination of Period of Enforceability Upon Completion of Required Period of Employment, ETC.—
(A) IN GENERAL.—An affidavit of support is not enforceable after such time as the alien (i) has worked 40 qualifying quarters of coverage as defined under title II of the Social Security Act or can be credited with such qualifying quarters as provided under subparagraph (B), and (ii) in the case of any such qualifying quarter creditable for any period beginning after December 31, 1996, did not receive any Federal means-tested public benefit (as provided under section 403 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996) during any such period.
(B) QUALIFYING QUARTERS.—For purposes of this section, in determining the number of qualifying quarters of coverage under title II of the Social Security Act an alien shall be credited with—
(i) all of the qualifying quarters of coverage as defined under title II of the Social Security Act worked by a parent of such alien while the alien was under age 18, and
(ii) all of the qualifying quarters worked by a spouse of such alien during their marriage and the alien remains married to such spouse or such spouse is deceased.
No such qualifying quarter of coverage that is creditable under title II of the Social Security Act for any period beginning after December 31, 1996, may be credited to an alien under clause (i) or (ii) if the parent or spouse (as the case may be) of such alien received any Federal means-tested public benefit (as provided under section 403 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996) during the period for which such qualifying quarter of coverage is so credited.
Aggravated felonies With IIRAIRA, the US Congress expanded the definition of the term aggravated felony. Aggravated felonies were first initiated with the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988, and aggravated felonies consisted of murder, drug trafficking, and illicit firearm trafficking. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 made any alien convicted of an aggravated felony at any time after their entry into the United States deportable. The Immigration Act of 1990, Immigration and Nationality Technical Corrections Act of 1994 and Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 increased the types of offenses considered aggravated felonies. In addition, with these laws, crimes with a penalty of 5 years or longer would be considered an aggravated felony.Immigration Act of 1990, Pub. L. 101-649. 104 Stat. 4320-4321. (1990). https://www.govinfo.gov/link/statute/104/4978?link-type=pdfImmigration and Nationality Technical Corrections Act of 1994, Pub. L. 103-416, § 222, 109 Stat. 4305, 4320. https://uscode.house.gov/statutes/pl/103/416.pdf
After IIRAIRA, however, the penalty was changed so that any crime with a penalty of one year or longer would be considered an aggravated felony.Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, Pub. L. 104-120, 110 Stat. 3009-627, 628 § 321(1996). https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:8%20section:1373%20edition:prelim
SEC. 321. AMENDED DEFINITION OF AGGRAVATED FELONY.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 101(a)(43) (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)), as amended by section 441(e) of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 (P.L. 104–132), is amended— [...](10) in subparagraph (R), by striking for which a sentence of 5 years' imprisonment or more may be imposed and inserting for which the term of imprisonment is at least one year [emphasis added] Any alien who is convicted of an aggravated felony can face collateral immigration consequences: "aliens who have been convicted of an 'aggravated felony' are prohibited from receiving most forms of relief that would spare them from deportation, including asylum, and from being readmitted to the United States at any time in the future". There is a "presumption of deportability" for aliens convicted of aggravated felonies, in which aliens "convicted of an aggravated felony shall be conclusively presumed to be deportable from the United States".
Importantly, aggravated felony charges can be applied retroactively, so if a change in the law deems a new category of offense an aggravated felony, any alien previously convicted of that offense can then face removal.
Under IIRAIRA, any alien convicted of an aggravated felony is categorically barred from cancellation of removal and placed in a form of expedited removal proceedings (but these are distinct from expedited removal). Under IIRAIRA, expedited removal proceedings for aliens with aggravated felony charges are under the purview of the Attorney General who "shall provide for the initiation and, to the extent possible, the completion of removal proceedings, and any administrative appeals thereof, in the case of any alien convicted of an aggravated felony before the alien's release from incarceration for the underlying aggravated felony".8 U.S. Code § 1228
Expedited removal of aliens convicted of committing aggravated felonies
(3)Expedited proceedings
(A)Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Attorney General shall provide for the initiation and, to the extent possible, the completion of removal proceedings, and any administrative appeals thereof, in the case of any alien convicted of an aggravated felony before the alien's release from incarceration for the underlying aggravated felony.
(B)Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring the Attorney General to effect the removal of any alien sentenced to actual incarceration, before release from the penitentiary or correctional institution where such alien is confined. Under these expedited removal proceedings, aliens do attend immigration court, and they are afforded the right to counsel (at no expense to the government) for their immigration court proceedings and judicial review of their determination of removal.
Removal IIRAIRA merged exclusion and deportation proceedings into removal proceedings.US Citizenship and Immigration Services. (2015). Asylum division officer training course suspension of deportation and special rule cancellation of removal under NACARA. https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/lesson-plans/ABC_NACARA_Asylum_Lesson_Plan.pdf All aliens who are removable are subject to removal proceedings. Prior to IIRAIRA, aliens were subject to either deportation proceedings or exclusion proceedings. Deportation was reserved for aliens who "made an 'entry' into the U.S.", whereas exclusion proceedings were reserved for aliens who had not made entry into the United States. The consolidation of exclusion and deportation proceedings into removal proceedings was an attempt to streamline the process of deportation and exclusion. Under IIRAIRA, aliens "admitted to the United States, [aliens] applying for admission, and aliens present in the United States without being inspected and admitted" were all subject to removal proceedings. Removal proceedings are adjudicated by immigration judges, which fall under the purview of the Executive Office for Immigration Review, which is part of the Department of Justice.