VII. CONCLUSION

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 made our complex immigration system even more restrictive for future immigrants. It is too early to determine if the reorganization of the now defunct Immigration & Naturalization Service within the Department of Homeland Security will improve either immigration enforcement or adjudication efforts. This complete reorganization as well as the concentration on security issues might result in even longer delays for families seeking to reunite and for employers seeking to obtain temporary as well as permanent employment for needed foreign national personnel. Despite these concerns, there have been a few changes that benefit employers and their foreign national employees as well as U.S. residents and citizens sponsoring their relatives.