In 1996, President Clinton signed two anti-immigrant bills into law that fundamentally changed the immigration system in the United States. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) and the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) further entrenched mass incarceration and laid the blueprint for the deportation machine we have today.

As a result, Black and Brown immigrants arrested or convicted in the unjust and racially biased criminal system then face the further threat of detention and deportation. According to the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Only 7% of non-citizens in the U.S. are Black, but Black immigrants make up 20% of people facing deportation on “criminal” grounds.

In response to the 1996 immigration laws, a diverse group of grassroots and national organizations launched the #Fix96 campaign. Since then, the efforts to fight back against immigrant criminalization and finally repeal the ‘96 laws has spread across the country. Now, the New Way Forward campaign seeks to repair the harm created by these unjust laws and pave a roadmap to creating an immigration system that does not rely on incarceration, detention or deportation.