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The Start of Immigration
The US first saw immigration kickstart in the 1600´s. Many people came over for example the Spanish, British, Dutch, and Swedes which all came simply for colonization. Pilgrims and Puritans came over for religious freedom and Africans were forced to the US through enslavement. -
¨Common Sense¨
Arguing for American independence, Thomas Paine published a pamphlet called ¨Common Sense.¨ -
Naturalization Act of 1790
Congress passed a new law that discusses who should be granted US citizenship. The law stated that ¨any free white person of good character¨ were able to be granted citizenship. -
First US Census
The English were deemed the largest ethnic group accounting for 3.9 million people. However, one in five Americans were of African heritage. -
Immigration Wave
After the War of 1812, peace was re-established between the US and Britain which resulted in the immigration to spike -
First Anti-Immigration Party
Know-Nothing party was the first anti-immigration party created to backlash from all of the immigration occurring -
Federal Government establish nation-wide immigration laws
After the Civil War, some states started to create their own immigration laws. The Supreme Court later states in 1875 that the Federal Government is responsible for establishing immigration laws -
Chinese Exclusion Act
This act prevented Chinese immigrants from entering the US. -
Peak of Immigration
US immigration peaks. 1.3 million immigrants entering America through just one island known as Ellis Island. -
1910 Immigration Status
An estimated one-third of New York´s population was immigrants and first-generations Americans. -
Border Patrol Immigration Crackdown
The US Border Patrol started preventing illegal immigrants from entering through the Mexican and Canadian borders. Many of the immigrants were of Asian descent and were barred from legally entering. -
McCarran-Walter Act
The McCarran-Walter Act ended the exclusion of Asian immigrants from the US -
Simpson-Mazzoli Act
Ronald Reagan signed a law that grants amnesty to more than 3 million immigrants living illegally in the US -
DACA
Barack Obama signed Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). This temporarily protected dreamers or aspiring American citizens from deportation. Although I prevented deportation, I didn't provide a path to citizenship. -
Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States
Donald Trump issued 2 executive orders that were meant to protect the US from terrorists entering the country. These orders were aimed at 6 mostly Muslim countries along with North Korea and Venezuela.