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Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
Stopped entry of Chinese immigrants into the United States for ten years. First to establish the federal government's right to restrict imigration based on nationalities. -
1888 and 1891
More restrictive acts were passed, and allowed the national government not only to exclude certain individuals--convicts, prostitutes, and insane persons, for example--but also to deport aliens who entered the country in violation of these immigration laws. -
Quota Act of 1921
This act limited the annual number of immigrants from each nationality to 3 percent of the number of foreign-born persons of that nationality who were living in the United States in 1910. -
Immigration Act of 1924 and the National Origins Act of 1929
These acts established a new quota system for each nationalityn and set a limit on the total number of immigrants to be allowed entry at all. (150,000 per year). The quota system that resulted from these acts served as the basis for U.S. immigration policy for more than thirty-five years. -
Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
This act imposed severe penalties on employers who willfully hired illegal aliens. (Fines ranged from $250 to $10,000 for each offense). -
Amnesty Program 1987 to 1988
Illegal aliens who could prove that they had been in this country continuously for at least five years could apply to obtain temporary legal residency status. Eighteen months later, they could apply for permanent residency. Eventually, they could apply for citizenship. -
Immigration Act of 1990
This act raised legal immigration levels by about 40 percent, to 700,000 per year. It stressed family reunification, provided legal status for certain illegal immigrants, and struck down barriers blocking people with certain political beliefs from entry. -
Proposition 187
This denied public social services, publicly funded health care, and public education to people who were suspected of being illegal aliens. It required that individuals who were suspected of being illegal aliens be interviewed, questioned, and forced to produce legal residency documents. It required all law enforcement agencies in California to report anyone suspected of being in the United States illegally. -
Immigration Reform Act of 1996
This act put into effect a number of provisions to stem illegal immigration. One provision of the act would have forced hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants and refugees to leave the United States. -
Welfare Reform Act of 1996
Prohibited immigrants, including legal immigrants who are not yet citizens, from receiving most forms of public assistance, including welfare benefits. -
1997
Congress revised the Welfare Reform Act of 1996, and under the new policy, many refugees automatically became eligible for permanent legal residence. Other illegal immigrants were allowed to remain in the United States while the government processed their applications for permanent legal residence. Additionally, immigrants were again made eligble for public-assistance benefits.
