[Antecedents of and reflections on immigration policy in the United States]. / Antecedentes y reflexiones en torno a la politica migratoria de Estados Unidos.

PIP: The background and determinants of US migration policy regarding Mexico are analyzed. Examination of migration policy through World War II demonstrates the coexistence of efforts to assure an adequate labor force by stimulating immigration with xenophobic fears and efforts to restrict immigration of specific groups. More recent policy measures--the 1952 McCarran-Walter Act prohibiting work in the US without migration documents, the 1954 "Operation Wetback" program to deport illegal immigrants, and the 1986 Simpson-Rodino law sanctioning employers who hire illegal immigrants--represented juridical and political responses to an essentially economic and social problem. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) of the early 1990s largely ignored the difficult issue of illegal immigration, missing an opportunity for bilateral consideration of the problem. In early 1994, the US government increased the budget for border surveillance and initiated other actions to curb illegal immigration. Three states with large undocumented Mexican immigrant populations sued the Federal government for reimbursement of their expenditures, and California's Proposition 187 called for denying educational and medical services to family members of illegal immigrants. US migration policy has always attempted to stop the flow of illegal immigrants. The large numbers still present demonstrate that blockades, deportations, and other measures have been only partially successful.^ieng