-
1790
Congress passed a loaw defining who could become a citizen if a person was not born here:
- only possible for a "free white person"
- this barred any African or Asian immigrant from becoming a citizen
After the Civil war, the law was revised to allow people born in Africa to become citizens, but Asians were still excluded from citizenship -
1880 & 1920
This was one of the heaviest periods of immigration in American history. Nearly 25 million immigrants arrived, most of them from countries of Southern and Eastern Europe. Americans saw these immigrants as very different from themselves. -
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
It said that no Chinese laborer could enter the US for 10 years. Renewed several times, this act was in force until WWII. Because China was an American ally during this time, the law was repealed. -
Quota Act of 1921
Congress set up quotas favoring immigrants from northwestern Europe; the Immigration Act of 1924 expanded the system: immigration from any country was limited to 2% 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% of foreign born residents from that country listed in the US census of 1890. This formula favored groups that had been in the US for a long time. For example, Great Britain would have a high quota because there were many British-born residents in the US in 1890. In contrast, the Italian quota would be low because Itailians only began migrating to the US in large numbers during the late 1800's. -
Immigration Reform Act
It was inspired largely by the civil rights movement and its idea of equality and social justice. It abolished the quota system based on national origin. Lyndon B. Johnson refered to the old system as "un-American". The new law was driven by 2 principles:
- reunifying familiy (husbands, wives, unmarried children)
- giving proprity to certain skills (doctors, lawyers, scientists)
Set up limits:
- 170,000 from Easter Hemisphere
- 120,000 from Western Hemisphere -
Immigration Reform and Control Act
Pres. Roland Regan hoped to:
- slow illegal immigration by punishing employers who knowingly hired undocumented immigrants (employers found guilty paid from $250 to $2,000 for each undocumented worker)
- offer a way for long-term, undocumented immigrants to become legal if they could show that they had entered the US before Jan. 1982 and lived here continuously
Eligible workers could be granted temporary and then permanent residency. After 5 yrs, they could apply for citizenship. -
Immigration Act of 1990
Congress wanted to prevent any one country from making up most of the immigrants to the US. The act stated that no country could account for more than 7% of total immigrants. The alw also considered a person's education and stills as well as 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 to this act. It increased border patrol staff and stiffened penalities for creating false citizenship papers or smuggling undocumented workers. -
2007
Pres. George W. Bush backed 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. He said his bill was realistic because it did not propose to track down and deport millions of undocumented workers who were already here. The bill would have fined undocumented immigrants and required them to fulfill certain obligations before applying for citizenship. The bill was shot down in June of 2007.
