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Naturalization Act of 1790
This event made it where you could only become a naturalized citizen if you were a white person who lived in good standing in the U.S for 2 years. This was big because slaves and colored people cannot become citizens. This can somewhat be seen with today's policy, there is a certain number of years you have to wait to become a citizen, but it has also evolved, all people of color and race can become a U.S citizen now. -
Naturalization act of 1798
Made it where immigrants had to become U.S citizens from the 5th to 14th year that they have been residing in the states. This has effected the immigration law now because there is a limited number of years you can be in the U.S without becoming a citizen. -
The act of prohibiting the importation of slaves of 1807
This act made it where no new slaves could be admitted into the United States. The slaves that were still here could be used as slaves still, but no new ones could come in. Today black's can be U.S citizens. We believe this act was one of the first steps in accomplishing that goal. -
Trail of Tears
This event had President Andrew Jackson remove Indians from the Southeast and moved them onto reservations in Oklahoma. This shows that Americans see themselves as the ones who get this land by manifest destiny. This can be linked to immigration because this is a precedent for not wanting others to come into our land, especially illegally. This also has made it where today if an immigrant becomes a citizen they cannot encroach on native land. This land is protected for the natives -
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Mexican-American War
This war led to the ultimate defeat of Mexico by the United States. The results of this were that the U.S gained land in Califoria, Arizona, and Texas. This has effected immigration because now there is a border between Mexico and the U.S. America just gained this land, so it makes sense that they would not want Mexican citizens getting in since they just acquired this land. -
The Naturalization Act of 1870
This act helped to create a system to control the naturalization process. This act would also penalize fraudulent practices of naturalization. People that were living in the USA as a former slave were allowed to claim naturalization because of this act as well. This leads American immigration policy more towards everyone, regardless of skin color, instead of just whites -
Chinese Exclusion Act
No Chinese immigrants could come into the U.S for 10 years for any reason. This was to prevent the number of Chinese immigrants from getting to large in the U.S and becoming a problem for American workers as well as the economy. This was the start of the U.S making limitations on percentages of immigrants who could come into the U.S each year -
Mounted Guards Along the Border
This is the first instance of guards patrolling the border between the United States and Mexico. While vastly irregular, mounted guards patrolled the border from El Paso, Texas to California as a means of protecting the country and preventing illegal immigration. This will be the precedent for how the border is protected with guards today -
Immigration Act of 1907
A series of Reforms that restricted the number of immigrants coming to the U.S before and after WWI. This can be seen in how immigration works today. If a major conflict is going on, immigration will be somewhat haulted to protect the country. Like how President Trump wanted to put a flight band on the Middle East because of all of the danger and conflict associated with that region of the world. -
Imigration Act of 1917
Established a literacy test as part of the immigration process. This was put into effect because it would now limit who could come into the country. You now have to have somewhat of an education to become a United States citizen and that can be seen in today's test. It is a challenging test that makes sure our newly formed citizens know American history. -
Immigration act of 1924
Limited the amount of visas available for immigrants to be 2 percent than 3 percent of the foreign-born population. More immigrants were allowed to come from Western Europe and less from Southern and Eastern Europe. This sarted the thought that there needs to be percentages of people immigrating into the U.S for logistical reasons -
Labor Appropriation Act of 1924
This act officially established the U.S. Border Patrol, roughly 20 years after the first instances of patrolling the border. This act was modified in 1925 to include the seacoast as well. The U.S. Border Patrol has been in action ever since -
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The Bracero Program
An agreement between the U.S and Mexico. It stated that Mexican's can come to America for a certain amount of years for work purposes only. This led to Mexicans being treated badly and not getting fair wages. This has effected the immigration of today because workers visas are given out to people to this day, and not just from Mexico, but Asian and European countries as well -
Nationality Act of 1952 (The McCarren-Walter Act)
The act of 1952 revised the system put in place during 1924 to allow one-sixth of a national population taken in 1920 to receive visas and ended the complete exclusion of Asian immigration to the USA. However it did not allow countries located in the Western Hemisphere to be included in the quota system and it did change the length of residency requirements for the non-quota immigrants. -
Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965: Hart–Celler Act
This act helped fix the Immigration Act of 1952. This act helped to reunite families that were torn apart in 1952. It also helped to bring in skilled laborers from other countries. This act has helped shape todays immigration act with the separation of families at the border. The U.S does its best to keep famalies together -
Immigration Act of 1990
Raises legal admissions up 50 percent from the previous IRCA levels. This was mainly for employment based immigrants. This limited the governments power to deport immigrants for ideological reasons. This started to give immigrants more and more rights. This can directly be seen today because immigrants have more rights than ever before. Even before they start paying taxes they are given healthcare and other benefits to start their new lives right. -
Department of Homeland Security Established
After September 11, 2001, homeland security became a vastly discussed topic. As such, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was established. The U.S. Border Patrol became part of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a component of DHS. -
Executive Order 13769
Ban on Immigration from Muslim Countries -This ban on Muslim came from Trump's administration. Seven predominantly Muslim countries' citizens were not allowed into the United States because Trump's' administration deemed these countries as having dangerous refugees. It was feared that they could be terrorists. The seven countries are Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.
