• American immigration law is an ever-evolving body of jurisprudence.Legal Law Justice image by Stacey Alexander from Fotolia.com
  
  Immigration law in the U.S. is a complex web of interlocking rules that pertain to who may lawfully enter, how long they can stay, and what penalties apply to employers and immigrants who violate these rules. Unlike criminal and contract law which are rooted in English common law, immigration law is created by statute. As the values, priorities, and economic needs of the country change over time, immigration laws change as well. This makes immigration law relatively fluid and difficult to grasp. However, focusing upon federal legislation provides much clarity in understanding this complicated subject.
  
  

Federal Law

• Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution provides that Congress has the power to establish rules pertaining to naturalization. This means that Congress has the exclusive power to legislate about matters pertaining to immigration. This is why all the laws dealing with the immigration and visas are federal laws. Attempts by states to regulate immigration or deny rights to certain benefits to immigrants have been consistently struck down by the courts.
  
  The five main federal laws that pertain to immigration are Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (Hart-Celler Act); Immigration Reform and Control Act (1986); Immigration Act of 1990 (IMMACT); Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) (1996); and Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibity Act (1996).
  
  

Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965

• The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (also known as the Hart-Celler Act) was a landmark piece of legislation that marked a fundamental change in U.S. immigration policy. Prior to this law, there were quotas as to how many immigrants from particular countries were allowed into the U.S. The 1965 Act abandoned these these quotas in favor of a system that allowed immigration based upon family relationship of the immigrant, and particular economic needs of the United States.
  
  Section 203 of the 1965 law set forth "preference allocations" based upon family relationships, and different classes of "priority workers" with special skills. The law recognized the importance of (1) keeping families together, and (2) the need for aliens with particular academic or work skills such as "outstanding professors and researchers," persons with "extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business, or athletics," and other particular skills. Under this law, a certain number of persons in these categories are entitled to begin the long process of obtaining lawful permanent residency, otherwise known as getting a green card.
  
  

IRCA

• The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) made it illegal for an employer to hire illegal aliens. The enactment of IRCA was the first time that employers became burdened with enforcing immigration law. IRCA is the basis of the modern hiring practice of asking new hires to complete an I-9 form. The employer is obligated to retain these completed forms to show that he checked the immigration status of employees before hiring them.
  
  

Immigration Lottery

• The Immigration Act of 1990 (IMMACT) was an expansion of the 1965 law. In addition to increasing the total number of immigrants that could come into the United States to 700,000, it also created a lottery program known as the Diversity Immigrant Grant. The Diversity Immigrant Grant program provides 50,000 visas to applications who satisfy the criteria of the 1965 law, and who are from a country with a low immigration rate. Immigrants from countries such as China or Mexico are not permitted to enter the lottery because there are already a large number of immigrants from these countries. Likewise, persons seeking asylum may not enter the lottery without establishing that they are (1) a priority worker, or (2) a close relative to someone who is already lawfully in the United States.
  
  

Harsh Penalties

• The 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty ACT (AEDPA) and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IRRIRA) originated from Newt Gingrich's Contract for America. Under these laws, a permanent resident can be deported for committing minor misdemeanors. In some respects, the law gave new powers to immigration judges. In other ways, however, the new laws limited judges' authority by requiring mandatory detention in some types of deportation proceedings.