-
1880's Anti- Chinese Riots spread over the Nothwestern states
In the 1880s, an economic depression on the West Coast put many people out of work. Some chose to blame the Chinese immigrants for their economic problems. They attacked Chinese businesses and drove Chinese communities out of town. -
1882 - Immigration Exclusion Act Prohibits Immigration of Criminals, Poor, and Mentally Ill
The 1882 Act to Regulate Immigration prohibited entry to ‘any person unable to take care of himself or herself without becoming a public charge. -
May 6, 1882 - Chinese Exclusion Act Passes and Immigration Exclusion Era Begins
In the beginning Congress created the Chinese Exclusion Act. -
1885 - Alien Contract Labor Law Bans Immigration of Workers to Break Strikes
The Knights of Labor replaced the National Labor Union as the dominant labor organization in the 1880s. As immigration soared in the 1880s, nativists and labor unions, including the Knights, sought to ban Chinese immigration and to reduce the inflow of other immigrants. -
1886 - Statue of Liberty Unveiled; "The Huddled Masses Yearning To Be Free" Invited to Immigrate
the Statue of Liberty, on Bedloe's Island, was dedicated as a gift of the French nation to the American people and as a symbol of their eternal friendship. -
1887 - Chinese Immigration Lowers Dramatically
The Chinese Exclusion Act worked. In 1882, before it took effect, over 39,000 Chinese came to America. -
Supreme Court Confirms That 14th Amendment Gives Citizenship to All Persons Born in the United States
To hold that the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution excludes from citizenship the children, born in the United States, of citizens or subjects of other countries would be to deny citizenship to thousands of persons of English, Scotch, Irish, German, or other European parentage who have always been considered and treated as citizens of the United States. -
Naturalization Act Creates Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization
On June 27, 1906, Congress passed an act (34 Stat. 596) that expanded the existing Immigration Bureau to the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization and put it in charge of ‘all matters concerning the naturalization of aliens. -
First Quota Act Becomes Law and Limits the Number of Immigrants from Certain Countries
This law accomplished two things: (1) It reduced the total number of immigrants coming to this country... (2) It favored and stimulated the immigration of Protestant northwestern Europeans and excluded most of the Catholic southern and eastern Europeans. -
Ozawa v. US Supreme Court Decision Declares Japanese Ineligible for Citizenship
The issue of U.S. citizenship eventually was decided by the 1922 Supreme Court decision [9-0] of Takao Ozawa v. United States, which declared that Japanese were ineligible for U.S. citizenship. -
Johnson-Reed Immigration Act Reduces Quotas
The Johnson-Reed Act of May 26, 1924, limited the total European immigration to 150,000 per year, and reduced each nationality's allowance to 2 percent of its U.S. population in 1890. -
Magnuson Immigration Act of 1943 Allows Chinese to Become US Citizens
This bill made it possible for Chinese to become naturalized citizens. -
Asian Exclusion Repeal Act Gives Naturalization Rights to Filipinos and Indians
World War 2 finally helped to usher reforms to the Asian exclusion laws. -
Plyler v. Doe Overturns Texas Law Disallowing State Funds for Non-Citizens
A revision to the Texas education laws in 1975 allowed the state to withhold from local school districts state funds for educating children of illegal aliens. -
President Obama Signs Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) to Allow Some Undocumented Immigrants Who Came to the United States as Children to Stay in the Country
Hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children will be allowed to remain in the country without fear of deportation and able to work, under an executive action the Obama administration announced on Friday. -
US Supreme Court Upholds Centerpiece of 2010 Arizona Immigration Law, Rejects Other Provisions
The Supreme Court on Monday delivered a split decision on Arizona's tough 2010 immigration law, upholding its most hotly debated provision but blocking others on the grounds that they interfered with the federal government's role in setting immigration policy. -
Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act Adds Immigrants to Protected Classes
The Violence Aagainst Women Act provides a temporary visa and creates a pathway to legalization for undocumented immigrants who are the victims of domestic abuse.