User:Vipul/Family Fairness

Family Fairness was a program run by the Immigration and Naturalization Services in the United States from late 1987 to late 1990. The initial version was introduced in late 1987 by then INS Commissioner Alan C. Nelson, working under then Attorney General Edwin Meese and then President Ronald Reagan. An expansion of the program was introduced in early 1990 by INS Commissioner Gene McNary working under then Attorney General Dick Thornburgh and then United States President George H. W. Bush. The program was created through executive action, in order to meet the problem of "split-eligibility" families created by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, pending legislation that would address the issue. The Immigration Act of 1990 replaced it with a legislatively sanctioned Family Unity Program, that continues to be in force today.

Background
On November 6, 1986, then-United States President Ronald Reagan signed the Simpson-Mazzoli Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. The Act was the result of a bill sponsored by Romano L. Mazzoli, a Democratic representative from Kentucky, and Alan R. Simpson, a Republican senator from Wyoming, who chaired their respective immigration subcommittees in Congress. The effort was assisted by the recommendations of the bipartisan Commission on Immigration Reform, chaired by Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, then President of the University of Notre Dame. The bill was passed after several iterations and required compromises between growers' groups, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, civil rights advocates, and politicians' interest in cracking down on illegal immigration.

Two important classes of people that the Act granted temporary legal status and a path to permanent residency were:


 * 1) People continuously present in the United States since January 1, 1982
 * 2) Special agricultural workers (SAW)

At the time of the passage of the Act, it was estimated that 3 million people would be eligible to legalize based on these provisions, although the number would rise later. However, the IRCA provided no special provision for legalization for the spouses and children of eligible people if they did not independently qualify; they would have to "wait in line"; however, they might eventually become eligible once the originally eligible applicant had acquired permanent residency or citizenship.

This led to a problem of "split-eligibility" families, where some members of the family were eligible for temporary legal status and others were not. The issue was highlighted by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, that asked President Ronald Reagan to address the issue. The Los Angeles Catholic Archdiocese estimated that 30% of the legalization applications it was assisting involved split-eligibility families. (get more references independent of AIC)

To address this, John Chafee, a Republican Senator (and former Governor) from Rhode Island proposed an amendment to an unrelated bill that would give spouses and children of IRCA-eligible individuals a path to legalization. The amendment was defeated by a 55-45 vote, and was the subject of criticism by Alan Simpson (co-sponsor of the original IRCA) who said that the amendment was against the spirit of the original legislation and the careful balance it had struck.

First announcement
Until the announcement of the Family Fairness executive action, the INS interpreted the IRCA strictly: only people who were eligible according to the IRCA rules were provided temporary legal status. On October 21, 1987, Alan C. Nelson, Commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Services at the time, announced the "Family Fairness" executive action. Nelson was working under Attorney General Edwin Meese and President Ronald Reagan. The executive action allowed for deferred deportation for:


 * Children if both their parents (or the single parent, if they were living with only one parent) were eligible for legal status under IRCA.
 * Spouses of IRCA-eligible individuals only in case of compelling or humanitarian factors, with the fact of marriage alone being insufficient.

(Condition on physical presence on or before November 6, 1986?)