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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.
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one of the heaviest periods of immigration in American history. around 25 million immigrants arrived.
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It said that no Chinese Laborer could enter the United States for ten years. (Chinese professionals were still allowed to immigrate
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each countrys immigrants were limited to 2% of foreign born residents from that country listed in the US census of 1890
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Congress introduced a quota system by country which favored groups which had been in the US for some time.
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abolished the quota system based on national origin. the law set up annual limits. 170,000 immigrants from the eastern hemisphere and 120,000 from the western hemisphere.
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Reagan punished employers who knowingly hired undocumented immigrants and wanted to make it easier for long term undocumented immigrants to become legal.
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no country could account for more than seven percent of total immigrants. it set up special categories for war refugees or close relatives of American citizens.
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increased the border patrol staff and stiffened penalties for creating false citizenship papers or smuggling undocumented workers.
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proposed to fill short term labor needs through a guest worker program and strengthened border patrol. also fined undocumented immigrants "a path to citizenship.
