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The Naturalization Act
During the first sixteen years of the United States being a country, Congress had to evaluate how they wanted to handle immigrants becoming citizens (or not). As slavery as allowed in the law, they claimed that to become a naturalized citizen, you must be White, have good character, and be a U.S. resident for two years. People born outside of the U.S. were able to be declared natural-born citizens, but this was revised later to what we know today. -
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The treaty granted citizenship to residents of Mexican-surrendered lands. The Rio Grande became the new border between Mexico and the U.S., as Mexico sold all its land north of it. Texas was now recognized as a part of the U.S., and Mexico lost over half a million square miles of its territory. When this treaty was presented to the U.S. Senate regarding citizenship, most senators did not believe they were ready for citizenship. Final revisions of the treaty delayed citizenship for Mexicans. -
Civil Rights Act
The Civil Rights Act of 1866 made it to that all peoples- no matter of race or prior slavery/indentured servitude status- were now declared U.S. citizens. The only caveat is that Native Americans were not considered citizens because they did not reside on United States land, but the land that we forced them to relocate to. -
Plessy Vs. Ferguson: "Separate, but Equal"
This case challenged the legitimacy of segregation. Homer Plessy was suing Judge John Howard because he made him get out of the White part of a train when Plessy purchased a ticket for the White section of the trai. Homer Plessy was one-eighth African American. This ruling declared that segregation of public facilities was okay and acceptable, as long as public facilities were equal in their quality and conditions. -
Texas courts declare Mexican Americans "nonwhite"
Mexican Americans were to be legally classified as “nonwhite, meaning that they would be excluded from serving on juries. This decision significantly impacted Mexican Americans' legal rights and representation in the judicial system.
Segregation and discrimination against Mexican Americans was therefore reinforced in public facilities, education, and other areas of their daily lives. This ruling contributed to the systematic denial of civil rights to Mexican Americans and other minority groups. -
Puerto Rico Conquered as a U.S. Territory
During the Spanish-American War, Puerto Rico was given the same rights as Spanish citizens from Spain to retain their territories in America (along with Cuba). The American government sought Puerto Rico for a position in the Caribbean for their naval bases.
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Maestas Desegregation Case
Hispanic railroad worker Fransisco Maestas lived on the White, northern side of Alamosa County, CO. Maestas' children were forced to walk to the Hispanic, segregated school on the southern side of town. The superintendent of schools denied Maestas’ proposal to enroll his children at the school closest to them, as the school nearest to them was not the school designated for them. The judge ruled in favor of Maestas to allow all children go to the closest and most convenient school. -
Jones Act
This act granted U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans and was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson. Puerto Rican leader Muñoz Rivera advocated for U.S. citizenship and asked Congress for Puerto Ricans to vote on whether they wanted it or not. Ignoring Rivera’s request, the Jones Act required Puerto Ricans to serve in the U.S. military while not granting them the right to vote in U.S. elections. Puerto Rico also restructured its government in this act and produced a new Bill of Rights. -
Immigration Act
This act's purpose limited the number of immigrants allowed entry into the United States. The Immigration Ac "made permanent strict quotas—defined as “two percent of the total number of people of each nationality in the United States as of the 1890 national census”—to favor immigrants from northern and Western Europe and preserve the homogeneity of the nation.” The system required immigrants to apply for and receive visas before arriving and established the U.S. Border Patrol. -
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Repatriation Programs
The purpose of this act was to reduce the burden on public welfare systems and create jobs for Americans by deporting people of Mexican descent.
Some individuals were financially persuaded to leave and were promised better conditions in Mexico. However, many were forced through raids, arrests, and deportation without due process. Estimates suggest that between 400,000 to two million people of Mexican descent were repatriated, including 60% who were U.S citizens. -
California Law declares that Mexican Americans are foreign-born Indians
This law enforced racial segregation and discrimination by placing Mexican Americans in a category that restricted their rights and social status.
Job opportunities for Mexican Americans were limited due to classifying, justifying, and therefore excluding them from certain occupations. Discriminatory practices were enforced, which restricted where Mexican Americans lived. The law also affected Mexican American students' access to quality education. -
McCarren-Walter Act
"This act ended the blanket exclusion of immigrants based on race and created the foundation for current immigration law, but imposed a racialized immigration quota system and new ideological grounds for exclusion.” Patrick McCarren felt that the law displayed Americans' feelings of anxiousness; their security was being threatened. Selective immigration was believed to be the best way to ensure the people of the United States for their safety. -
Brown vs. Board of Education
This court decision stated that racially-segregated schools were unconstitutional. The landmark decision allowed all students to attend school no matter their race.
“This historic decision marked the end of the "separate but equal" precedent set by the Supreme Court nearly 60 years earlier in Plessy v. Ferguson. This case served as a catalyst for the expanding The Civil Rights Movement. -
Voting Rights Act
This act aimed to eliminate discrimination in voting and enforce voting rights guaranteed by the 14th and 15th Amendments.
The act prohibits discrimination in voting based on race, color, or primary language spoken. One section in the act established a formula to identify areas with a history of discrimination and subject them to preclearance. The act also required that areas with a large population of non-English-speaking citizens be provided with bilingual voting materials and assistance. -
Elementary and Secondary Education Act
Signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, this act stated that primary and secondary schools in disadvantaged areas are provided federal funding. This act authorized the federal government to equalize educational opportunities for all children by directing federal education dollars to the most disadvantaged children living in poverty. -
Lau vs. Nichols
The San Francisco Unified School District presented this case to the U.S. Supreme Court because about a third of students of Chinese descent learned English in public school. The court ruled that not providing an ESOL program to English-language learners violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VI states that no discrimination should arise within any program that gets federal financial assistance. This case allowed students to learn English and gain access to instruction content. -
Equal Education Opportunities Act
The act prohibits discrimination in education based on race, color, sex, or national origin. Schools and other educational agencies are required to provide aid in language barriers and offer equal educational opportunities and instruction for children with language barriers.
. As a result, schools are required, for example, to provide student handbooks, all school policies, signs, labels, parent consent forms, etc., in both English and the home language of the students. -
Amendment to the Voting Rights Act
This amendment requires electoral ballots and information to be multilingual
This Amendment allows provides a better chance for more populations inside The United States to have their voices heard as citizens. Before this, it was not required for ballots and any voter information to be in any other language than English, making it difficult for non-English speakers to vote properly without aid. -
Plyler vs. Doe
The case ruled that states cannot fundamentally deny students free public education based on immigration status. After Texas legislature ruled that public schools could deny students due to their immigration status, some school districts charged tuition if no documentation showed they were legally admitted to the United States. The case's decision stated that denying students a public education or charging students tuition violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. -
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DREAM Act
The purpose of this Act was to provide a (lengthy) pathway to legal status for undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. The DREAM Act has been introduced in various forms in congress multiple times since 2001 but has never passed both the House and the Senate in the same legislative session. The DREAM Act has significant support from various advocacy groups, educational institutions, and some business leaders.