<P> In 1986, the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) was passed, creating for the first time penalties for employers who knowingly hired undocumented immigrants . IRCA also contained an amnesty for about 3 million undocumented immigrants already in the United States, and mandated the intensification of some of the activities of the United States Border Patrol or INS (now part of Department of Homeland Security). </P> <P> The U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform, led by former Rep. Barbara Jordan, ran from 1990 to 1997 . The Commission covered many facets of immigration policy, but started from the perception that the "credibility of immigration policy can be measured by a simple yardstick: people who should get in, do get in; people who should not get in, are kept out; and people who are judged deportable are required to leave". From there, in a series of four reports, the commission looked at all aspects of immigration policy . In the first, it found that enforcement was lax and needed improvement on the border and internally . For internal enforcement, it recommended that an automated employment verification system be created to enable employers to distinguish between legal and illegal workers . The second report discussed legal immigration issues and suggested that immediate family members and skilled workers receive priority . The third report covered refugee and asylum issues . Finally, the fourth report reiterated the major points of the previous reports and the need for a new immigration policy . Few of these suggestions were implemented . </P> <P> The Immigration Act of 1990 (IMMACT) modified and expanded the 1965 act; it significantly increased the total immigration limit to 700,000 and increased visas by 40 percent . Family reunification was retained as the main immigration criterion, with significant increases in employment - related immigration . </P> <P> Several pieces of legislation signed into law in 1996 marked a turn towards harsher policies for both legal and illegal immigrants . The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) and Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) vastly increased the categories of criminal activity for which immigrants, including green card holders, can be deported and imposed mandatory detention for certain types of deportation cases . As a result, well over 2 million individuals have been deported since 1996 . </P>

History of legal immigration in the united states