Alan Simpson (American politician)

The Wyoming Republican co-wrote the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 with the Democratic congressman Romano Mazzoli, a bargain that legalised around 2.7 million undocumented immigrants in exchange for penalties on employers who hired unauthorised workers. Enforcement of the employer sanctions proved weak, which both sides now cite: restrictionists to oppose any new amnesty, reformers to argue for better design. Later, with Erskine Bowles, he chaired the 2010 fiscal commission whose plan was never adopted.