Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

E50000

United States federal statute immigration law

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 is a landmark U.S. law that combined employer sanctions for hiring unauthorized immigrants with a large-scale legalization program for certain undocumented residents.

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All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 canonical	20
Immigration Reform and Control Act general amnesty program	1
Title II of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T394210 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
Context triple: [99th United States Congress, enacted, Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986]

A. Immigration and Nationality Act
The Immigration and Nationality Act is the foundational U.S. federal law that governs immigration policy, including visas, admission, naturalization, and deportation of non-citizens.
B. Immigration Act of 1924
The Immigration Act of 1924 was a U.S. federal law that sharply restricted immigration through national-origins quotas favoring Northern and Western Europeans, reflecting and reinforcing the era’s strong nativist and xenophobic sentiments.
C. Immigration Act of 1917
The Immigration Act of 1917 was a U.S. federal law that sharply restricted immigration through literacy tests, expanded exclusion categories, and the creation of the “Asiatic Barred Zone,” reflecting strong nativist and xenophobic sentiments of the era.
D. Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1977
The Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1977 were U.S. federal legislative changes that updated wage and hour protections, including raising the minimum wage and expanding coverage under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
E. Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1985
The Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1985 are U.S. federal legislative changes that, among other provisions, clarified and modified wage, hour, and overtime rules—particularly for public sector employees—under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
Target entity description: The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 is a landmark U.S. law that combined employer sanctions for hiring unauthorized immigrants with a large-scale legalization program for certain undocumented residents.

A. Immigration and Nationality Act
The Immigration and Nationality Act is the foundational U.S. federal law that governs immigration policy, including visas, admission, naturalization, and deportation of non-citizens.
B. Immigration Act of 1924
The Immigration Act of 1924 was a U.S. federal law that sharply restricted immigration through national-origins quotas favoring Northern and Western Europeans, reflecting and reinforcing the era’s strong nativist and xenophobic sentiments.
C. Immigration Act of 1917
The Immigration Act of 1917 was a U.S. federal law that sharply restricted immigration through literacy tests, expanded exclusion categories, and the creation of the “Asiatic Barred Zone,” reflecting strong nativist and xenophobic sentiments of the era.
D. Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1977
The Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1977 were U.S. federal legislative changes that updated wage and hour protections, including raising the minimum wage and expanding coverage under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
E. Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1985
The Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1985 are U.S. federal legislative changes that, among other provisions, clarified and modified wage, hour, and overtime rules—particularly for public sector employees—under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	United States federal statute ⓘ immigration law ⓘ
affectedPopulationEstimate	approximately 2.7 million people legalized ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Simpson–Mazzoli Act ⓘ
amends	Immigration and Nationality Act ⓘ
chamberOfOrigin	United States Senate ⓘ
codifiedIn	8 U.S. Code ⓘ
country	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
createdAgencyResponsibility	Immigration and Naturalization Service ⓘ
createdVerificationRequirement	yes ⓘ
eligibilityCriterion	admissibility under existing immigration law ⓘ application within specified legalization filing periods ⓘ continuous unlawful residence in the United States since before January 1, 1982 ⓘ
employerSanctionsDescription	imposed penalties on employers who knowingly hire or continue to employ unauthorized workers ⓘ prohibited employers from knowingly hiring unauthorized immigrants ⓘ
enactedBy	99th United States Congress ⓘ
historicalSignificance	first major U.S. law to impose sanctions on employers for hiring unauthorized immigrants ⓘ largest single legalization program in U.S. immigration history ⓘ
includesProvision	Special Agricultural Worker legalization program ⓘ linked to: Special Agricultural Worker program anti-discrimination protections related to employment verification ⓘ employer sanctions for hiring unauthorized workers ⓘ increased border enforcement resources ⓘ legalization of certain undocumented immigrants ⓘ reforms to temporary agricultural worker programs ⓘ
introducedEmployerSanctions	yes ⓘ
legalizationProgram	Special Agricultural Worker program ⓘ general amnesty for certain undocumented immigrants ⓘ legalization for long-term undocumented residents ⓘ
legalStatus	in force ⓘ
longTermImpact	created a legalized cohort of former undocumented immigrants who could obtain permanent residence and citizenship ⓘ established employment eligibility verification as a core element of U.S. immigration enforcement ⓘ
policyApproach	combination of enforcement and legalization ⓘ
primaryGoal	deter unauthorized immigration ⓘ legalize certain undocumented immigrants ⓘ reform United States immigration policy ⓘ
publicLawNumber	Public Law 99-603 ⓘ
shortName	IRCA ⓘ
signedBy	Ronald Reagan ⓘ
signingDate	1986-11-06 ⓘ
sponsor	Alan K. Simpson ⓘ Romano L. Mazzoli ⓘ
subjectMatter	border security ⓘ immigration enforcement ⓘ labor and employment ⓘ legalization of undocumented immigrants ⓘ
title	An Act to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to revise and reform the immigration laws, and for other purposes ⓘ
topic	United States immigration policy reform ⓘ
verificationMechanism	Form I-9 employment eligibility verification ⓘ linked to: Form I-9
yearEnacted	1986 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (22)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

99th United States Congress → enacted → Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 ⓘ

Immigration and Nationality Act → amendedBy → Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 ⓘ

subject linked to: INA

Pub.L. 82–414 → amendedBy → Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 ⓘ

Immigration Act of 1990 → relatedTo → Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 ⓘ

Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting → lawApplied → Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 ⓘ

Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices → legalBasis → Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 ⓘ

Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices → legalBasis → Title II of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 ⓘ

linked to: Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices → createdBy → Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 ⓘ

Form I-9 → legalBasis → Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 ⓘ

IRCA → standsFor → Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 ⓘ

Simpson–Mazzoli Act → alsoKnownAs → Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 ⓘ

Special Agricultural Worker program → legalBasis → Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 ⓘ

Special Agricultural Worker program → relatedTo → Immigration Reform and Control Act general amnesty program ⓘ

linked to: Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

Public Law 99-603 → officialName → Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 ⓘ

Romano L. Mazzoli → notableWork → Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 ⓘ

Romano L. Mazzoli → coauthored → Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 ⓘ

Romano L. Mazzoli → sponsored → Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 ⓘ

Public Law 101-649 → precededBy → Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 ⓘ

Whiting → involvesStatute → Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 ⓘ

99-603 → hasTitle → Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 ⓘ

99-603 → hasShortTitle → Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 ⓘ

All labels observed (3)

How this entity was disambiguated Show

Statements (49)

How these facts were elicited Show

Referenced by (22)

How this entity was disambiguated

How these facts were elicited