Reagan signs Immigration Reform and Control Act, creating first major employer sanctions and amnesty program

President Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, the most sweeping overhaul of immigration law since 1965. The law created civil and criminal penalties for employers who knowingly hired undocumented workers, established an amnesty program that ultimately granted legal status to approximately 2.7 million people, and authorized $422 million for border enforcement. It was the last bipartisan immigration overhaul to pass Congress.