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1790 (Early Restrictions)
The Constitution clearly gives Congress the power to make immigration policy. Early in the nation's history, Congress declared a preference for immigrants from Europe. In 1790, it passed a law defining who could become a citizen if a person was not born here: Citizenship was possible only for someone who was "a free white person." As that term was then understood, this barred any African or Asian immigrant from becoming a citizen. -
Period: to
1880 and 1920
One of the heaviest periods of immigration in American history came between 1880 and 1920 when some 25 million immigrants arrived. Most came from the countries of Southern and eastern Europe-parts of the world that were unfamiliar to many Americans.They saw these new immigrants as very different from themselves. -
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
When the gold rush began, the majority of the workers/ gold miners were Chinese immigrants. San Franciscans and other Californians began to rally against the Chinese. In 1882 Congress responded by passing the Chinese Exclusion Act. It said that no Chinese laborer could enter the United States for 10 years. (Chinese professionals were still allowed to immigrate.) Renewed several times, the act was in force until World War II. In that conflict, China was an American ally and Congress repealed. -
Quota Act of 1921
Congress sets up quotas favoring immigrants from northwestern Europe. -
Immigration Act of 1924
The immigration Act of 1924 expands the quota system: immigration from any country is limited to 2% if its total numbers in the 1890 census. This formula favored groups that had been in the United States for a long time. For example, Great Britain would have a high quota because there were many British-born residents in the United States in 1890. -
Immigration Reform Act
The next major policy shift was inspired largely by the civil rights movement and its ideal of equality and social justice. In 1965 Congress passed the Immigration Reform Act, abolishing the quota system based on national origin. When he sighed the reform bill, President Lyndon B. Johnson referred to the old system as "UN-American." The new law was driven by two principles: reunifying families and giving priority to certain skills. -
Immigration Reform and Control Act
President Ronald Reagan's immigration and Reform Control Act (IRCA) had a dual purpose. First, Reagan wanted to slow illegal immigration by punishing employers who knowingly hired undocumented immigrants. Second, he wanted to offer a way for long-term, undocumented immigrants to become legal. If they could show they had entered the United States before January 1982 and lived here continuously, they could apply for amnesty. -
Immigration Act of 1990
By, 1990, more than 80% of American immigrants came from Asia and Latin America. Congress wanted to prevent any one country from making up most of the immigrants to the Untied States. In order to accomplish this, it passed the Immigration Act of 1990, which said that no country could account for more than 7% of total immigrants. The law also considered a person's education and skills. -
Immigration Reform Act of 1996
In 1996 concerns about the continuing problem of illegal immigration led Congress to pass yet another immigration law. It increased the border patrol staff and stiffened penalties for creating false citizenship papers or smuggling undocumented workers over the border. -
2007
In June 2007, President George W. Bush committed himself to backing a bill to address all immigration issues. Bush's bill proposed to fill short-term labor needs through a guest worker program and strengthened border control. Yet Bush argued that his bill was also realistic because it did not propose to track down and deport millions of undocumented workers who were already hired. The senate voted the bill down, ending any chance of solving the immigration issue during Bush's presidency.
