Immigration Laws (1790-Present)

  • Naturilzation Act of 1790

    Naturilzation Act of 1790
    This act allowed for immigrants to become naturalize citizens after two years of living in the United States.
  • The Naturalization Act of 1870

    The Naturalization Act of 1870
    This act was a system of controls for the naturalization process and penalties for illegal practices. Naturalization Laws to aliens and person started to decrease.
  • Page Act of 1875

    Page Act of 1875
    The Page Act was the first federal immigration law and banned the entry of immigrants. Any individual that would come from Asia would become a laborer and women would be prostitutes. They would be considered convicts in their own country.
  • The Immigration Act of 1882

    The Immigration Act of 1882
    This act stopped all legal immigration of Chinese workers and is considered to be the first major exclusionary immigration restriction on an entire nationality approved by the United States.
  • The Geary Act of 1892

    The Geary Act of 1892
    This act was to make illegal the coming of chinese people into the United States. This extended the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act for 10 more years.
  • The Immigration Act of 1903

    The Immigration Act of 1903
    Congress organized immigration law and increased the tax on immigrants entering the United States, but keeping out Canadians and Mexicans.
  • The Immigration Act of 1917

    The Immigration Act of 1917
    Restricted immigration from Asia by creating an "Asiatic Barred Zone" and introduced a reading test for all immigrants over fourteen years of age, with certain exceptions for children, wives, and elderly family members.
  • The Immigration Act of 1924

    The Immigration Act of 1924
    Limited the number of immigrants allowed into the United States through a national origins limit. The limit provided immigration visas to 2% of the total number of people of each nationality in the United States as of the 1890 national census.
  • The Chinese Exclusion Repeal Act of 1943

    The Chinese Exclusion Repeal Act of 1943
    Congress passed a measure to repeal the unfair exclusion laws against Chinese immigrants and to establish an immigration limit for China of around 105 visas per year.
  • The Cuban Refugee Adjustment Act of 1966

    The Cuban Refugee Adjustment Act of 1966
    Provides for a special system under which Cuban natives or citizens and their accompanying spouses and children may get a green card (permanent residence).
  • The Real ID Act of 2005

    The Real ID Act of 2005
    The Real ID Act created more restrictions on political asylum, severely decreased Habeas Corpus relief for immigrants, increased immigration enforcement mechanisms, altered judicial review, and forced federal restrictions on the issuance of state driver's licenses to immigrants.