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Naturalization Act of 1790
Grants United States citizenship by naturalization, at least two years of residency to free white men. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
It Granted citizenship to anyone who lived in the annexed territory after the Mexican-American war. -
14th Amendment
Granted citizenship to all persons "born or naturalized" in the United States, including former slaves. -
Naturalization Act of 1870
It extended citizenship to former slaves not born in the United States and denied citizenship to other immigrant groups. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
Outright denied Chinese immigration. based on race or ethnicity and therefore denying citizenship for 10 years. -
Elk v. Wilkins
It was ruled that Native Americans were not to be included in the 14th Amendment and therefore were not granted citizenship by being born in the United States. -
Unites States v. Wong Kim Ark
They ruled 6 to 2 that any child born in the United States, regardless of race or ethnicity or parents' citizenship status, is a United States citizen. -
Expatriation Act of 1907
Women acquired citizenship through their husbands, but if their husbands were noncitizenships, that right was stripped away. Essentially their citizenship would morph into their husbands. -
Jones-Shafroth Act of 1917
They granted Puerto Ricans citizenship after the United States acquired Puerto Rico as a territory in 1898. -
Ozawa v. United States
Legal proceeding that would deem Asians ineligible for naturalization because they were not racially white. -
Cable Act of 1922
This act would reverse the expatriation act and would grant women independent citizenship. -
Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
This act would grant citizenship to all Native Americans born in the United States. -
Luce-Celler Act
This act would allow 100 Filipinos and 100 Indians to migrate to the United States during wartime and with a chance to naturalize as American Citizens. Undermining the Asian exclusion at the time. -
Cuban Adjustment Act
This act would not provide citizenship to Anti-Communist Cubans but rather a permanent status in the United States and help them adjust to the country. -
Child Citizenship act of 2000
This act would allow, foreign-born, biological, or adopted children of a U.S citizens to gain citizenship if they met certain requirements. -
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
United States Immigration Policy does not grant citizenship to children of immigrants that were brought to the U.S. very little but provides them with work authorization and protects them from deportation. -
Form I-485
This form would allow U.S. citizens to request residency for immediate relatives, like their parents. This form would also allow these residents to apply for naturalization after five years of becoming residents and therefore become citizens of the United States.