Legalization Assistance Project of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor v. Immigration & Naturalization Service

OVERVIEW

Congress passed The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (“IRCA”), Pub.L. 99-603, to create a comprehensive program to regulate immigration to the United States. One of IRCA’s main purposes is to grant legalization to certain groups of illegal aliens with longstanding residence in the United States.

To achieve that purpose, IRCA provides that persons who have lived continuously and unlawfully in the United States since January 1, 1982 may become lawful permanent residents if they satisfy certain conditions. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”) has statutory authority to promulgate regulations establishing criteria and procedures for the legalization process.

In 1988, several individuals and organizations filed suit in federal district court challenging INS policy and regulations on numerous statutory and constitutional grounds. The plaintiffs to that action included five individual nonimmigrants 1 and seven organizations that assist nonimmi-grants throughout the legalization process. 2 Their challenge to INS policy and regulations focused on the agency’s interpretation of the statutory requirement that a nonimmigrant must have lived continuously and…