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Immigrants from Europe
in 1790, Congress passed a law defining who could become a citizen if a person was not born here: Citizenship was possible only for someone who was a free white person. -
Period: to
Heavy Immigration
one of the heaviest periods of immigration in American history. around 25 million immigrants arrived. -
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
It said that no Chinese Laborer could enter the United States for ten years. (Chinese professionals were still allowed to immigrate -
Quota Act of 1921
each countrys immigrants were limited to 2% of foreign born residents from that country listed in the US census of 1890 -
immigration act of 1924
Congress introduced a quota system by country which favored groups which had been in the US for some time. -
immigration reform act
abolished the quota system based on national origin. the law set up annual limits. 170,000 immigrants from the eastern hemisphere and 120,000 from the western hemisphere. -
immmigration reform and control act of 1986
Reagan punished employers who knowingly hired undocumented immigrants and wanted to make it easier for long term undocumented immigrants to become legal. -
immigration act of 1990
no country could account for more than seven percent of total immigrants. it set up special categories for war refugees or close relatives of American citizens. -
immigration reform act of 1996
increased the border patrol staff and stiffened penalties for creating false citizenship papers or smuggling undocumented workers. -
George W Bush's 2007 bill
proposed to fill short term labor needs through a guest worker program and strengthened border patrol. also fined undocumented immigrants "a path to citizenship.
