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Nationality Act of 1790
The Nationality Act of 1790 was a law set by the U.S Congress for citizenship by naturalization. White immigrants who resided in the U.S for 2+ years and their children under the age of 21 were eligible for citizenship. -
Ban on “importation” of “any negro, mulatto, or other person of colour”
Congress banned immigration by free black people to contain anti-slavery campaigners. -
Indian Removal Act
This act forcefully removed Native Americans west of the Mississippi River and supported the confiscation of Native American land. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
This treaty brought the end of the Mexican-American war. Mexico surrendered land to the United States and conferred citizenship for those residing on the land if they chose to remain. -
People V. Hall
A California Supreme Court case that ruled a Chinese man's murder witness testimony inadmissible. Chinese people, Native Americans and African Americans did not have the right to testify in court against white Americans. -
Dred Scott V. Standford
The Supreme Court ruled that African Americans and free slaves were not given the rights and privileges of citizenship nor were they granted citizenship. This also meant that they could not sue in federal courts. -
Emancipation Proclamation
Lincoln's 1863 executive order to free the slaves in the Confederate states. -
Burlingame Treaty of 1868
An international agreement favoring Chinese labor for the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. This allowed free migration for Chinese people and Americans. -
14th Amendment
Following the Civil War, African Americans were granted "equal treatment" and protected under the Fourteenth Amendment. The Fourteenth Amendment grants equal protection and due process for all legal residents and birthright citizenship for people born in the U.S. -
Naturalization Act of 1870
Previously exclusive to white immigrants, naturalization rights were now extended to African aliens and immigrants but not to other nonwhite alien and immigrant groups. -
Angell Treaty of 1880
This treaty allowed the U.S to restrict migration of Chinese workers, almost to the point of Chinese exclusion. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
Restricted Chinese immigrants. This was the first group identified by race and class for limited entry and were ineligible for citizenship. -
Elk v. Wilkins
This case ruled that Native Americans who didn't gain citizenship by birth were not protected by the Fourteenth Amendment, thus did not have the right to vote. -
The Dawes Allotment Act
Native Americans could gain U.S citizenship but in exchange, often lost their land. -
Geary Act
Chinese exclusion laws were renewed. Chinese people had to prove that they were legally in the U.S by carrying a Certificate of Residence. If they failed to do so, the consequences were detention and/or deportation. -
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
Racial segregation was enforced despite the Fourteenth Amendment. This was done by depicting the separate facilities as "separate but equal." -
United States v. Wong Kim Ark
Regardless of race or parents' status, U.S citizenship was granted to any person born in the U.S. -
Anti-American Boycott
In order to protest the Chinese Exclusion laws in the U.S, Chinese merchants and students boycotted U.S goods and services in China and Southeast Asia -
Expatriation Act of 1907
This act revoked citizenship from U.S. born women if/when they married non-citizen, immigrant men. -
Alien Land Laws in California (1913 & 1920)
Western states enacted laws prohibiting aliens from owning or leasing land. It was ruled by the Supreme Court that these laws were constitutional. -
Jones-Shafroth Act
Puerto Ricans were granted U.S. citizenship after the U.S. acquired the island as their territory in 1898 -
Cable Act of 1922
Congress enacted a law to restore citizenship to the U.S born women who married non-citizen men and lost their citizenship under the Expatriation Act of 1907. -
Ozawa v. United States
The Supreme Court affirmed the Nationality Act (1790) that stated Asians are ineligible for naturalization because they aren't "white." -
Thind v. United States
The Supreme Court found that the Asian Indian "Bhagat Singh Thind" was ineligble for naturalized citizenship despite being Aryan or racially "white." -
Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
Native Americans born within the U.S. were automatically granted citizenship by birth. They were now granted this Fourteenth Amendment right. -
Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act
Admission for ~135,000 Vietnamese and other Southeast Asians after the Vietnam war as refugees across the U.S. They were provided resources to establish a new life. -
Plyler v. Doe
Public schools can't constitutionally refuse admission to unauthorized immigrant children. -
Chinese Student Protection Act
Chinese students living in the U.S were able to gain legal permanent status following the 1989 student protests in Tiananmen. -
Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act (NACARA)
NACARA allowed Salvadorans, Guatemalans, and Nicaraguans fleeing violence and poverty to file for asylum and stay in the U.S. -
Haitian Refugee Immigrant Fairness Act (HRIFA)
Granted certain Haitian nationals the opportunity to become legal permanent residents in the U.S -
Muslim Travel Ban
The Trump administration prohibited travel and refugee resettlement from Muslim countries.