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annual immigration ceiling
The annual immigration ceiling in the U.S. is further reduced to 150,000 and made permanent. Almost all Asians are excluded from the U.S. This basic law remains in effect through 1965. -
Executive Order 9066
As a result of World War II, President Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066, authorizing the building of “relocation camps” for Japanese Americans living along the Pacific Coast. -
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act
President Bill Clinton signs the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (popularly known as “welfare reform”), which ends many forms of cash and medical assistance for immigrants. -
Prevention through deterrence
President Bill Clinton signs the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (popularly known as “welfare reform”), which ends many forms of cash and medical assistance for immigrants. -
UN protocol agianst smuggling immigrants
The United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopts the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air. The Protocol supplements the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and enters into force in 2004. A definition of smuggling of migrants is agreed upon for the first time in an international instrument. -
9/11
The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon lead to a public outcry for immigration reform and increased border security. Terrorists who carried out the attacks entered the country on temporary tourist or student visas. Some of them held drivers' licenses from multiple U.S. states as identification. -
Creation of the I.C.E
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is created. ICE, part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, is the lead law enforcement agency in the U.S. responsible for fighting human smuggling as well as human trafficking. -
Human Smuggling in Europol
Human smuggling becomes the fastest-growing criminal market in Europe, according to Europol