Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act 110 Stat. 3009 (1996)
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION REFORM AND IMMIGRANT RESPONSIBILITY ACT 110 Stat. 3009 (1996)
The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 adopted major new restrictions in both substantive immigration law and immigration procedure and raised numerous constitutional questions. procedural due process issues arose from its authorization of "expedited removal" of unadmitted aliens by individual immigration inspectors after rudimentary hearings and without administrative or judicial review. The act's limitations on judicial review of decisions ordering removal of permanent residents have been challenged as violating article iii and the prohibition in Article I, section 9 against suspending habeas corpus. Its provisions imposing mandatory detention of aliens pending removal proceedings implicated not only personal liberty but also rights to humane conditions of confinement. Together with the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, the statute denied many government benefits to lawful residents, and authorized the states to do so in a manner that was questionable under prior equal protection doctrines concerning immigration and alienage.
Gerald L. Neuman
(2000)
Bibliography
Symposium 1997 Lady Liberty's Doorstep: Status and Implications of American Immigration Law. Connecticut Law Review 29:1395–1711.