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1790
In 1790, Congress passed a law defining who could become a citizen if a person was not born here: Citizenship was possible only for someone who was born "a free white person." As that term was then understood, this barred any African or Asian immigrant from becoming a citizen. After the Civil War, this law was revised to allow people born in Africa to become citizens, but Asian immigrants were still excluded from citizenship. -
Period: to
1880-1920
One of the heaviest periods of immigration in American history came between 1880 to 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
In 1882 Congress responded by passing the Chinese Exclusion Act. It said that no Chinese laborer could enter the United States for 10 years, with the exception of Chinese professionals who were still allowed to immigrate. Renewed several times, the act was in force until WWII. In that conflict, China was an American ally and Congress repealed the law. -
Quota Act of 1921
Congress sets up quotas favoring immigrants from northwestern Europe; the Immigration Act of 1924 expands the quota system: immigration from any country is limited to 2 percent of its total numbers in the 1890 census. -
Immigration Act of 1924
The Immigration Act of 1924 introduced a quota system by country: Each country's immigrants were limited to 2 percent of foreign-born residents from that country listed in the U.S. Census of 1890. -
Immigration Reform Act
In 1965 Congress passed the Immigration Reform Act, abolishing the quota system based on national origin. When he signed the reform bill, President Lyndon B. Johnson referred to the old system as "un-American." -
1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act
President Regan's intentions with the IRCA were to slow illegal immigration by punishing employers who knowingly hired undocumented immigrants. He also 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. Eligible workers could be granted temporary and then permanent residency. After five years, they could apply for citizenship. -
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 United States. In order to accomplish this, it passed 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. The 1990 law set up special categories for war refugees or close relatives of American citizens. -
Immigration Reform Act of 1996
In1996 concerns about the continuing problem of illegal immigration led Congress to pass another immigration law. It increased the border patrol staff and stiffened penalties for creating false citizenship papers or smuggling undocumented workers. -
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 here.
