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1790
In 1790, Congress 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 barren 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. -
Period: to
1880 - 1920
This is the heaviest period of immigration in American history when some 25 million immigrants arrived.
Most came from the 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
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 said that no Chinese laborer could enter the US for 10 years, although Chinese professionals were still allowed to immigrate. Renewed several times, the act was in force until WWII. In that conflict, China was in American ally and Congress repealed the law. -
Quota Act of 1921
Congress sets up quotas favoring immigrants from northwestern Europe. -
Immigration Act of 1924
Congress took a more drastic step in 1924. The 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 U.S. Census of 1890. -
Immigration Reform Act
Congress passed the Immigration Reform Act of 1965, abolishing the quota system based on national origin.
This new law was driven by two principles: reunifying families and giving priority to certain skills. This law also set up annual limits to 170,000 immigrants from the Eastern Hemisphere (Europe, Asia, and Africa) and 120,000 from the Western Hemisphere (Canada, Mexico, and Central and South America). -
Immigration Reform and Control Act
President Ronald Reagan's Immigration and Reform Control Act had a dual purpose.
1st, Reagan wanted to slow illegal immigration by punishing employers who knowingly hired undocumented immigrants.
2nd, he wanted to offer a way for long-term, undocumented immigrants to become legal.
If they could show they had entered the US before Jan 1982 and lived here continuously, they could apply for amnesty. Eligible workers could be granted temporary and then permanent residency & citizenship after 5 yrs. -
Immigration Act of 1990
Congress wanted to prevent any one country from making up most of the immigrants to the US. In order to accomplish this, it passed the Immigration Act of 1990, which said that no country could account for more than 7% of total immigrants. The 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 Reform Act of 1996
In 1996 concerns about the continuing problem of illegal immigration led Congress to pass yet another illegal immigration law. It increased the border patrol staff and stiffened penalties for creating false citizenship papers or smuggling undocumented workers. -
2007
In June 2007, Pres 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. In late June 2007, the Senate voted the bill down, ending any chance of solving the immigration issue during Bush's presidency.
