One Strike, You’re Out

The 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility
Act broadened the criteria by which the United States could deport
its legal immigrants. According to

Stacie Williams in The Chicago Reporter, the federal
boot, once reserved for convicts of crimes such as murder, rape,
and armed robbery, is now used against minor offenders such as
shoplifters, even if they committed their crimes before 1996.

After Sept. 11, 2001, officials stringently enforced the
sweeping new law as the Department of Homeland Security used a
massive database of state and local records to screen legal
immigrants. Re-entering the United States and even applying for
citizenship could suddenly trigger deportation. ‘It’s highlighted
how unforgiving the law can be, if something that happened 30 years
ago is catching up to them,’ Fred Tsao, policy director at the
Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, told
Williams.

In 2004, immigration fugitive arrests rose 112 percent from the
previous fiscal year and some lawmakers continue to push more
measures to crack down. As the system is refined and tolerance
lessens, a massive class of US workers will be walking on
eggshells, without much hope of ever becoming citizens.
— Ty Otis

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One Strike, You’re Out

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