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1846
Mexican Americans become citizens following the Mexican-American War and annexation of Texas and the surrounding area. -
Gold Rush
The Gold Rush began to bring in a multitude of people who wanted to strike gold and make a good living in America, including more immigrants -
Chinese Exclusion Act renewed indefinitely.
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Anarchists, epileptics, polygamists, and beggars ruled inadmissible for immigration
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Japanese made ineligible for citizenship.
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US Border Patrol created
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Great Depression
The Great depression led to the President essentially closing off the country to all immigrants to ease the strain on the economy. -
The Immigration Act of 1952
The first legislation which unified immigration policy in one body -
Trumans veto on The Immigration Act of 1952 denied
In his speech he said "Today, we are "protecting" ourselves as we were in 1924, against being flooded by immigrants from Eastern Europe. This is fantastic. ... We do not need to be protected against immigrants from these countries – on the contrary we want to stretch out a helping hand..." -
operation Wetback
Mass deportation was a result of pressure from the Mexican government to stop illegal entry of Mexican laborers in the United States. This was heavily influenced by the Bracero Program -
Immigration caps in the 1965 Immigration Act are raised to annual limit of 290,000
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Cold War
With tensions high in the cold war, immigration policy was tight and left it difficult to come into the country. -
Immigration Act of 1990
The Immigration Act of 1990 limited the amount of unskilled workers to allowed in to 10,000 per year -
Patriot Act
Post 9/11, this act amended the Immigration policy to broaden the scope of aliens ineligible for admission or deportable due to terrorist activities
