Rasvan Sibii Addresses Immigration Amnesty in New Column

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Rasvan Sibii, journalism, has published a new column exploring attitudes on amnesty for undocumented immigrants in the United States. Sibii points to instances where amnesty has been granted for relatively large groups of people engaged in illegal activity (e.g., draft evaders during the Vietnam era, pardons for ex-Confederate soldiers, etc.), noting that authorities calculate whether enforcement of a regulation provides more harm than good. He also discusses the repercussions of U.S. immigration policies, such as Regan's 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act and Clinton's 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. 

"No one is arguing for amnesties for all undocumented immigrants, all the time, with no strings attached," writes Sibii. "But neither should we be wedded to a purist take on law enforcement that does not allow for conditional forgiveness."