| Introduction xxii apparent in immigration policy in regard to the welcome given to white Cubans as opposed to black Haitians. In a further effort to clarify immigration policy and deal with recurrent problems, Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1990. Family reunification was again the main focus, along with job skills. An amnesty was approved for immigrant fami- liesÊ undocumented relatives denied legalization due to the arbitrary date of the IRCA amnesty provision. These relatives had to have arrived in the United States by May 1988 (Reimers 1992). The law also set a 700,000 (later 675,000) cap on total immigration, although the maximum did not include „refugees, asylees, and IRCA legalizations,‰ as well as close relatives and special cases of nonquota im- migrants. Each country has a 25,620 limit rather than the 20,000 noted earlier. Provision was made for more asylum visas, and the category „temporary protected status‰ was introduced to deal with emergency cases (Barkan 1996). The IRCA lottery concept endured from that earlier legislation. The American public and politicians focused more strongly on the undocumented immigrants during the 1990s and after, particularly so after 9/11. The Illegal Immi- gration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA) was the 1990s response, as were various attempts to deny not only illegal immigrants, but initially even legal immigrants, from securing government benefits (Daniels 2004). The IIRIRA dealt with increasing border control, streamlining and strengthening de- portation procedures and adding further reasons for deportation, preventing aliens from being smuggled into the United States, making the granting of asylum more onerous, and providing better employer substantiation of immigrant workerÊs docu- ments (Siskind Susser Bland). As the New York Times reported, the „law eliminates broad class-action lawsuits . . . by groups complaining of illegal conduct over issues including warrantless searches of farm workersÊ homes and lawsuits on behalf of Haitian, Guatemalan and Salvadoran asylum seekers‰ (Johnston 1996). Immigration by itself was no longer as important an issue as how the immigrants arrived in America (legal or undocumented). The country grew anxious about po- rous borders and illegal immigrants, especially after 9/11. A frightening concept for many Americans was in not knowing who was coming over the border. Muslim immigrants were immediately placed in a new category and received more scrutiny. Many men here on student, tourist, and other temporary visas were arrested and placed in long-term detention while they were being screened. Most were deported (Sachs 2002 Lichtblau 2003). Muslim men who were to be deported but evaded the order received special Justice Department attention to find them (Lewis 2002). Also, in November 2001, „the State Department said . . . that it would slow the process for granting visas to young men of Arab and Moslem nations in an effort to prevent terrorist attacks‰ (Lewis and Marquis 2001). In essence, all Muslim and Arab immigrants were considered terrorists until proven otherwise. Muslim immi- gration declined temporarily after 9/11 but picked up again by 2006. Clearly facing
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