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Naturalization Act
*restricts citizenship to “free white persons” who reside in the United States for five years and renounce their allegiance to their former country. “Free white persons” disqualifies both African slaves and poor whites who came to the U.S. as indentured servants. -
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Mexican-American War is settled with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in which Mexico lost half of its territory , and the United States gained Texas, New Mexico, California, Arizona, Neveda, Utah, and half of Colorado. Mexicans living in the newly ceded U.S Territory had a year to decide whether they wanted to keep their Mexican citizenship or switch to become U.S citizens. Around 80,000 Mexicans decided to become U.S citizens and 2,000 move south to keep their Mexican citizenship. -
Foreign Minerʼs Tax
The Gold Rush in California increases immigration from CHINA, as well as migration from the eastern United States. California imposes Foreign Minerʼs Tax and enforces it mainly against
CHINESE miners, who were often forced to pay more than once. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
Chinese Exclusion Act prevents any Chinese without family already in the United States
from immigrating. This law drastically reduces the number of Chinese immigrants entering the U.S.
and creates the “paper sons” phenomenon. -
Annual Immigration Ceiling
The annual immigration ceiling of 150,000 is made permanent, with 70 percent of admissions slated for those coming from the northern and western Europe, while the other 30 percent are reserved for those coming from souther and eastern Europe. There continues to be no ceiling for immigration from within the hemisphere and no immigration at all allowed from Asia. -
Immigrants blamed for Depression
During times of economic hardship, immigrants are often blamed. During the Great Depression, many MEXICANS, both those with documents and those without, were sent back to Mexico. During the 1930s, the number of deportees came to almost half a million. In LosAngeles, police rounded up and deported even people whose families had lived in the United States for generations, and many other Mexican-Americans returned to Mexico out of fear. -
Was=more soldiers
War changes U.S. immigration policy in order to get as many soldiers as possible. For ex- ample, FILIPINOS are reclassified as U.S. citizens, making them eligible for the military draft. -
Immigration and Nationality Act
Immigration and Nationality Act changes the preference system from that in 1924 to place priority on employable skills and familial relationships. The law is passed with the intent to make the immigration system at least seem more fair toward people of color, but the authors did not foresee the radical consequences that it would have on the demographics of the United States. In the climate of the Cold War where the United States sees the whole world as needing to decide between democracy and com -
Worldwide Immigration Ceiling
Worldwide immigration ceiling is introduced.Anew total annual immigration ceiling of 290,000 replaces the separate ceilings for the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. -
Immigration Reform and Control Act
Immigration Reform and Control Act. The aim of IRCAwas to make it difficult for undocu- mented to find employment, while at the same time providing business with a reliable supply of cheap labor. IRCAalso gave “amnesty” to 3 million undocumented immigrants, mostly MEX- ICANS and CENTRALAMERICANS. -
Refugee Act
Refugee Act, enacted in response to the boat people fleeing VIETNAM, grants asylum to politically-oppressed refugees. Under the new law, refugees are defined as those who flee a country because of persecution “on account of race, religion, nationality, or political opinion.” -
The Immigration Act of 1990
The Immigration Act of 1990 increases the number of immigrants allowed into the United States each year to 700,000. Ten thousand permanent resident visas are offered to those immigrants agreeing to invest at least $1 million in U.S. urban areas or $500,000 in U.S. rural areas.Again, we see that rich people have a much much easier time immigrating to the United States than -
Welfare Reform
Welfare Reform ends many forms of cash and medical assistance for most legal immigrants and other low-income individuals. -
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA)
Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) expands INS enforcement operations, eliminates basic rights of due process for immigrants and cuts down on avenues for im-migrants to legalize their status.Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death PenaltyAct groups provisions regarding immigrants with those designed to curb terrorism, including a new court to hear cases of alien deportation based on secret evidence submitted in the form of classified information -
Arizona SB-1070
The Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act (introduced as Arizona Senate Bill 1070 and thus often referred to simply as Arizona SB 1070) is a legislative Act in the U.S. state of Arizona that at the time of passage was the broadest and strictest anti-illegal immigration measure in recent U.S. history
