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1790
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. 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. -
1880 and 1920
One of the heaviest periods of immigration in American history when some 25 million immigrants arrived. Most came from 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
By the 1870's, Chinese workers made up almost half of the workforce in San Francisco. San Franciscans 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 In that conflict, China was an American ally and Congress repealed the law.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
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. For example, Great Britain would have a high quota because there were many Britain-born residents in the United States in 1890. By contrast, the Italian quota would be low because Italians only began migrating to the U. S. in large numbers. -
1965- Immigration Reform Act
This was inspired by civil rights movements and its ideal of equality and social justice. This Act abolished the quota system based on national origin. When he signed the reform bill, President Lyndon 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 that help the U. S. This law also set up annual limits: 170,000 immigrants from the Eastern Hemisphere and 120,000 from the Western Hemisphere. -
1986- Immigration and Reform Act
The Immigration and Reform Act penalizes employers for knowingly hiring undocumented immigrants, but it gives amnesty to some undocumented immigrants, allowing them a path to eventually apply for citizenship. If they could show they had entered the U. S. before 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 the Immigration Act of 1990, no country could account more than 7% of total immigrants. This 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 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 documents. -
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. The bill also would have fined undocumented immigrants and required them to fulfill obligations. This bill died.
