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Congress Declared a Preference for Immigrants from Europe
The Constitution clearly gives Congress the power to make immigration policy. 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." As that term was then understood, this barred any African American or Asian immigrant from becoming a citizen. -
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Heaviest Periods of Immigration in American History
Nearly 25 million immigrants arrived to America in this time period. Most came from the countries of Southern and Eastern Europe-parts of the world that were unfamiliar to many Americans. Americans saw these new immigrants as very different from themselves. -
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
The first major law on immigration was passed in the late 1800's. Congress passed the first major law that barred entrance to specific groups because the California Gold Rush and railroad building had attracted many immigrants. People complained about the vast majority of Chinese workers, so Congrses passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. It said that no Chinese laborer could enter the United States for 10 years, but Chinese professionals were still allows to immigrate. -
Quota Act of 1921
Congress set up quotas favoring immigrants from northwestern Europe. -
Immigration Act of 1924
Congress took a more drastic step for immigration. This act introduced the quota system by country. Basically, it expanded the quota system. 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. After this act was passed, during the next 40 years, immigration dropped sharply. -
Immigration Reform Act
The next major policy shift was inspired largely by the civil rights movement and its ideal of equality and social justice. This act abolished the quota system based on national origin. Lyndon B. Johnson signed the reform bill, and referred to the old system as "un-American." The new law was driven by 2 principles: reunifying families and giving priority to certain skills. -
Immigration Reform and Control Act
President Ronald Reagan signed this act. 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. Eligible workers could be granted temporary and then permanent residency. After 5 years, they could apply for citizenship. -
Immigration Act of 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 immigration to the United States. In order to accomplish this, it 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 skills. In addition, this law set up special categories for war refugees or close relatives of American citizens. -
Immigration Reform Act of 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. -
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. Bush argued that his bill was also realistic because ti did not propose to track down and deport millions of undocumented workers who were already here. The bill also would have fined undocumented immigrants and required them to fulfill certain obligations before they could apply for citizenship, also known as a path to citizenship.
