I've been practicing immigration law since 1994. At that time, immigration laws were, by and large, fairly liberal. There was no such thing as "unlawful presence", getting waivers for criminal convictions were comparatively easy, and getting fraud waivers was even easier. Petitioning family members took a while (that much hasn't changed) but you knew that if you petitioned a relative, they would be coming here eventually if they wanted to.
However, even in 1994, there were already grumblings about "illegal immigrants" and how they were taking jobs, causing crime, and generally bringing about the downfall of civilization as we know it. None of this was true, of course, but this country, for some reason, likes to be able to blame someone (other than itself) for its problems and immigrants have always been a popular scapegoat. After all, since only U.S. citizens can vote and since U.S. politicians typically only care about registered voters, the immigrant population in this country has never had much of a political voice so they are very easy to pick on without any real risk of having them fight back.
So, as has happened so many times before, in 1996 the immigrant population was punished for this country's crime and unemployment woes by the enactment of sweeping immigration "reforms" that made it much, much more difficult for immigrants to come to the United States and for immigrants who already were here to stay here. The laws were so horrendously restrictive that the attorney I was working for at the time said "Frank, I might have to retire soon. Congress has taken away almost my entire practice."
Well, those horrendously restrictive laws are still with us, but we have adjusted. The lawyer I was working for back in '94 is still practicing; he just has to work harder. However, just because we have adjusted to these laws, doesn't mean we like them, and immigration advocates all over the country have been constantly lobbying Congress over the last 9 years to repeal the laws it enacted back in 1996 and enact real immigration reform - reform which would promote family values, help the labor market, and judge people based on their current contributions to society; not what they did 10, 15 or 20 years ago.
We had all though our lobbying efforts were falling on deaf ears. However, we are now hearing more and more members of Congress calling for comprehensive immigration reform and several Bills have been introduced that would allow illegal immigrants in this country to legalize their status here either by working or by otherwise demonstrating that they will contribute to U.S. society. Congress seems to be taking a more compassionate approach to this country's immigration policy. This is very good news.
Change will not come overnight. Some of the reforms that Congress enacted in 1996 were initially introduced in 1994 and took more than two years to become law. It will probably take just as long for Congress to agree on reforms now. However the important thing is that they are talking about it - and talking about it fairly seriously. Things took a significant turn for the worse in 1996. I am cautiously optimistic that things are, finally, starting to take a turn for the better.
