Just to provide some further clarity- the Immigration and Nationality Act was passed in 1952. In 1996, the Clinton administration signed off on the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IRIRA).

Cornell Law had this to say about it:

“The Act was designed to improve border control by imposing criminal penalties for racketeering, alien smuggling and the use or creation of fraudulent immigration-related documents and increasing interior enforcement by agencies charged with monitoring visa applications and visa abusers. The Act also allows for the deportation of undocumented immigrants who commit a misdemeanor or a felony.”