Charles Kamasaki
Immigration Reform: The Corpse That Will Not Die

APIAHF is pleased to present Charles Kamasaki, author and Senior Cabinet Advisor, UnidosUS. 

 

In 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed the nation’s last major immigration reform legislation, the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), which prohibited employers from knowingly hiring undocumented immigrants and extended legal status to undocumented immigrants who had arrived prior to 1982. The lessons learned from the IRCA’s evolution and bipartisan passage remain critically important in today’s immigration debates. 

 

Charles Kamasaki, longtime Senior Cabinet Advisor to UnidosUS, formerly the National Council of La Raza, played a direct role in the passage of the IRCA. In his book, Immigration Reform: The Corpse That Will Not Die, Kamasaki reveals the roles of key lawmakers and a coalition of public interest groups that played a role in shaping the IRCA. His memoir highlights the central and continuing importance of racial issues in the immigration reform debate.  

 

A copy of Immigration Reform The Corpse That Will Never Die will be provided to each attendee at VOICES 2022.