U.S. Immigration Policy

By Rzeng
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    The first European Wave

    An influx of immigrants from Great Britain, Germany, and Ireland
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    Chinese Immigration

    A new wave of Chinese immigrants entering the U.S. Most of them were recruited for transcontinental railroad in CA.
  • Japanese Immigration

    Japanese began coming to the U.S. after three centuries of forbidden emigration ended.
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    Southern & Eastern European Immigrantion

    An increase of immigrants from Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Russia.
  • Chinese Exclusion Act

    Banning Chinese workers from entering the U.S. boarders.
  • Literacy Test

    In order to slow the influx of immigrats, the U.S. government decided that one must pass the literacy test to enter.
  • National Origins Act

    Quotas for the immigrants changed. It was harder to gain citizenships.
  • Immigration Act of 1924

    National Origins Act-- the quota of a immigrant is depended on one's nation of origin.
  • Displaced Persons Act of 1948

    allowed more than 400,000 refugees of WWII to be admitted.
  • Refugee Wave

    The largest wave of refugees are coming from Cuba after Fidel Castro took office.
  • The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965

    Immigrants receive quotas based on "seven preference categories," encouraging the reunion of families and the arrival of skilled professionals.
  • The Refugee Act of 1980

    This law was passed to help refugees from Southeast Asia whom increased in large numbers between 1975 and 1980.
  • Immigration Reform and Control Act

    • imposed penalities on those who employ illegal immigrants.
    • allowed illegal immigrants and undocumented agricultural workers who came to the U.S. since 1981 to receive citizenships.
  • The Immigration Act of 1990

    • raised the limit of admitted immigrants to 675,000
    • tripled the amount of immigration slots for skilled professionals and their families
    • focused on family reunion
  • The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996

    • the goal was to control the amount of immigrants in the U.S.
    • increased deportations (2x) and rejected refugees