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Importation of African Slaves Begins
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Quakers Become Illegal Aliens; Anti-Quaker Legislation Is Ignored
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222,500 White and 27,500 Black Inhabitants Live in the Colonies
"In 1700, nearly a century after Jamestown, only about 250,000 white and black inhabitants populated the colonies... The vast majority of the white inhabitants were either born in England or descended from English immigrants. Only about 11 percent [27,500] of the non-Native American population were black." -
The Naturalization Act of 1790 establishes a uniform rule of naturalization and a two-year residency requirement for aliens who are "free white persons" of "good moral character"
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Congress adopts uniform rules so that any free white person could apply for citizenship after two years of residency.
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143,439 immigrants arrive
1821-1930 -
U.S. Supreme Court rules that Congress alone can regulate immigration.
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The California gold rush spurs immigration from China and extensive internal migration.
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Dred Scott decision declared free Africans non-citizens.
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New York becomes the largest Irish city in the world, with 203,760 Irish-born citizens.
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The First Transcontinental Railroad is completed when the Central Pacific and Union Pacific lines meet at Promontory Summit, Utah
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The immigation Act of 1882
The Immigration Act of 1882 levies a tax of 50 cents on all immigrants landing at US ports and makes several categories of immigrants ineligible for citizenship, including "lunatics" and people likely to become public charges. -
Ellis Island ImmigrationCenter Opens
The New York center will process 12 million
immigrants by the time it closes in 1954. On
the West Coast, in 1910, the Angel Island Immigration
Station opens in San Francisco Bay
to control the flow of Asians into the country.
These centers are run by the Bureau of Immigration,
created in 1891 under the Treasury Department -
Emergency Immigration Restriction Law introduces a quota system that favors northern and western Europeans.
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Large-scale Puerto Rican immigration begins as people try to escape crushing poverty on the island, only to find similar conditions in New York.
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The racist term "wetback" came into common parlance after the implementation of Operation Wetback, a 1954 program to deport undocumented Mexican-American workers who did not fall within the Bracero Program's mandate (which included quotas, as well as stri
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Illegal Immigrant Reform and ImmigrantResponsibility Act allows about 300,000 illegal immigrants togain legal status and authorizes the E-Verify system.
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wo airplanes crash into the World Trade Center and the World Trade Center collapses
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“MinutemanProject” beginsrecruiting civilians to patrolthe U.S.-Mexico border.
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Ilegal Immigration Bill in Arizona
A
controversial illegal
immigration bill in Arizona
is signed into law. A
federal judge later puts
major portions of the law
on hold.
