1986 amnesty meant new lives for many immigrants

This shows how amnesty in 1986 worked and how it would work again. These people are definitely to the U.S. economy. DP

Louie Gilot / El Paso Times
ElPasoTimes.com: Berthy Corral would not have her own business if it wasn't for the green card she got during the 1986 amnesty. Luis Elias Cruz would not be going to college if it wasn't for the amnesty that made his father legal.

Politicians are currently clashing over the wisdom of having another legalization program under an immigration reform bill.

According to studies by the Pew Hispanic Center, between 3 million and 5 million undocumented immigrants were in the United States when the amnesty was enacted. An estimated 8 million to 12 million live here now.

The 1986 amnesty clearly did not stop the flow of undocumented immigrants into the United States. But on a personal level, the 1986 amnesty changed lives.

Berthy Corral is a media consultant for Time Warner Communications and runs Ad Souvenirs and More, a promotional and embroidery business, out of her home.

Back in 1988, when she applied for the amnesty, she was a 21-year-old undocumented immigrant from Chihuahua City who had crossed the border "in a little boat" to follow her then-husband.

Back then she didn't work, let alone have her own business.
The amnesty "was a big deal," said Corral, who is now a U.S. citizen. "I wanted to go to college, have a nice job."

Couldn't she have been just as successful in Mexico?

"I have a sister who is a chemical engineer in Mexico who makes a third of what I make. That's who I can compare to. I know she has to struggle to raise her children," Corral said.
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