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1790 Naturalization Act
The 1790 Naturalization Act provided the first path to citizenship for non-natives in the United States. The act stated that any "white person" being of "good character" could become a citizen if they swore to the Constitution and had lived in the U.S. for more than two years. Citizenship was also extended to the applicant's children if the children were under 21 years old, and they were considered to be natural born. -
Naturalization Law of 1802
The 1790 Naturalization act continues to be repealed and replaced by new acts up to 1802. In 1802, the new law required more information to be gathered on applicants. This act engaged the State and Territorial courts and gave them the power to recognize naturalization. -
Immigration Act of 1882
This wide-spanning act was the first attempt at federalized immigration laws. Taxes were imposed upon immigrants to help offset costs to the government for immigration and restrictions regarding the citizen's capability to take care of themselves were put into place. At this point, certain races were seen as "undesirable" and this document gave the government power to limit or inhibit that could be enforced by a federal government agency. -
Update to Immigration Act of 1891
President Benjamin Harrison amended previous immigration laws by adding penalties for citizens who bring in non-citizens illegally. The law makes such crimes a federal misdemeanor. It also established U.S. immigration leadership by appointing a position situated within the Treasury Department. -
1892 Act to Prohibit the Coming of Chinese Persons into the United States
Also known as the Geary Act, this legislature extended restrictions set against Chinese immigrants put forth by the Chinese Exclusion Act and subsequent additions to the Chinese Exclusion Act. It required all Chinese nationals in the United States to secure certificates that stated they were living there legally. It also imposed legal repercussions for those in the country illegally. -
Wong Wing v. United States
This landmark case for immigration voided the imprisonment terms of the Geary Act. Wong Wing, a Chinese immigrant charged under the act, sought a habeas corpus writ but was denied and the case was deferred to the Supreme Court. Ultimately, the courts ruled that "It is not consistent with our theory of government that the legislature should, after having defined an offense as an infamous crime, find the fact of guilt and adjudge the punishment by one of its own agents." -
1921 Emergency Quota Act
This act was set forth to temporarily limit numbers of immigrants coming into the United States by country of birth. The limits were 3 percent of the number of foreign-born people of the nationality in the U.S. according to the 1910 census. It was Congress' first move at setting immigration quotas. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor escalated fear of immigrants among Americans. A day after the attack, President Roosevelt suspended naturalization processes for Italian, Japanese, and German immigrants. Strong anti-immigrant propaganda followed and interment camps sprang up. This event was a highly polarizing event that stigmatized immigrants. -
1942 Bracero Agreement
In response to the worker shortage caused by World War II, an executive order was created in 1942 that allowed Mexican guest workers to support the workforce. From the beginning of the program into 1964, 4.6 million contracts were signed. The contracts had safety nets built into the agreements to ensure minimum wages, employment for 3/4 of the agreement minimum, and clean, free living arrangements. The braceros were not given rights outside of work, though. -
Displaced Persons Act of 1948
This act allowed over 200,000 people displaced from their homelands because of Nazi persecution to seek refuge in the United States. It also created opportunity for these immigrants to pursue permanent residency. It was met with some resistance from leadership in the White House. Attitude towards these immigrants was slightly negative: many still felt that more immigrants would be bad for the country and harbored convictions after Pearl Harbor. -
Immigration and Nationality Act
This wide-spanning law consolidated several immigration laws into one piece. It updated the quota systems and enabled Asian nationals to immigrate to the United States. It also outlined process for granting immigrant status, visas, and asylum with operations for people who violate laws about immigration. -
Refugee Act of 1980
This act established a new statutory system for accepting and selecting refugees and asylum seekers present at U.S. borders or in the country. It defined the refugee as someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country because of fear of prosecution on account of "race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or particular opinion." -
Immigration Reform and Control Act
This update to previous legislature on immigrants, this act cracked down on immigration. It introduced penalties/sanctions who knowingly hire unauthorized immigrants and increased border patrol staffing by fifty percent. At the same time, it introduced two legalization programs through which 2.7 million people residing illegally became permanent residents. -
1996 - Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act / Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act
These two acts imposed heavier punishment for illegal immigration. AEDPA added new crimes to the definition of aggravated felony and establishes "expedited removal" of illegal immigrants. Similarly, IIRIRA extends the power of border officials in investigating suspected illegal immigrants. This law also expanded mandatory sentences for those breaking immigration laws and introduced new border control measures. -
Attack on Twin Towers
The 2001 terrorist attacks on multiple areas in the United States was severely damaged for those affected. Attitudes towards immigrants became very dangerous - thousands of people began to hold Muslim Americans accountable for the attacks. Views of immigrants have been very polarized since. Many Americans scared and leery of immigrants. This attitude remains in place today. -
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals
An executive order by President Barack Obama, DACA grants certain undocumented immigrants exemption from deportation and allows them to hold a renewable 2-year work permit. It does not create a path to citizenship for these people, but it does shift attention from low-priority immigrants who exhibit good behavior.
