Miguel Perez

In 1986 Congress passed the Immigration Reform and Control Act that, among other things, granted amnesty to illegal immigrants who could demonstrate continual residence in the United States prior to 1982. Approximately 2.7 million people took advantage of the law to gain legal status. However, the number of illegal immigrants residing in the United States has continued to grow since then due to continued migration. Various proposals for granting amnesty to more recent immigrants continue to be raised. In the following viewpoint, newspaper columnist Miguel Perez argues in favor of a bill introduced in February 2001 by Luis Gutierrez, a Democratic member of Congress, that would grant amnesty to most of America’s illegal immigrants. Perez argues that since illegal immigrants play an important role in America’s economy and pay taxes, they deserve legal residency...