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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 "a free white person." -
Period: to
1880-1920
One of the heaviest periods of immigration in American history came between 1880-1920 when some 25 million immigrants arrived. Most came from the countries of Southern and Eastern Europe, parts of the world that were unfamiliar to Americans. They saw these new immigrants as very different from themselves. -
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
Said that no Chinese laborer could enter the U.S. 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 In that conflict, China was an American ally and Congress repealed that law. -
Quota Act of 1921
Congess set up quotas favoring immigrants from northwestern Europe. -
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. This formula favored groups that had been in the United States for a long time. -
Immigration Reform act of 1965
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." The new law was driven by 2 principles: reunifying families and giving priority to certain skills. The law also set up annual limits. 170,000 from the Eastern Hemisphere and 120,000 from the Western Hemisphere. -
Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
Ronald Reagan's 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 U.S. before January 1982 and lived here continuously. they could apply for amnesty. -
Immigration Act of 1990
By 1990, more than 80 percent 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 U.S. Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1990, which said that no country could account for more than 7 percent of total immigrants. The law also considered a person's education and skills. In addition, the 1990 law set up special categories for war refugees or close relatives of American citizens. -
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 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 strength-ed border patrol. 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. Many charged that the penalties were not harsh enough. In late June 2007, the Senate voted the bill down.
