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Alien and Sedition Acts
The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 permint the President to deport and foreigner that has been proven to be too dangerous. If a foreigner has had previous dangerous crimes commited they will be deported back to their country. -
The Gold Rush in California
The Gold Rush was started by a man named James W. Marshall that found gold at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. Due to this, immigration from China greatly increased because people wanted to take a chance and find the rest of the gold in hopes to start a new life in America. California also introduced the Foreign Miner's Tax and they mainly enforced it against the Chinese. -
Mexican American War Settled
The Mexican American war was settled on February 2nd, 1848. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is what offically settled the war. Mexican lost half of its territory which included, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, and half of Colorado. All of the Mexican citizens who were living in those areas needed to decide if they were going to remain Mexican citizens or if they were going to become U.S. citizens. -
Chinese Exclusion Act
The Chinese Exclusion Act states that any citizen from China wishing to immigrate to the U.S. needs to already have family living here otherwise they will be denied entry into the country. -
Ellis Island Opens
Ellis Island opens and is located in the New York Harbor. The island processes over twelve million immigrants who are immigrating to the U.S. The majority of the immigrants coming through Ellis Island are coming from Europe. -
President William McKinley Assassinated
On September 14th, 1901 in Buffalo New York, president William Mckinley was assassinated by a Polish anarchist. This lead congress to form the Anarchist Exclusion Act which permits the deportation of immigrants based on their political opinions. -
Angel Island Immigration Station
In the year 1910, Angel Island was opened in Sanfrancisco Bay. The main purpose of Angel Island is to process and deport Asian immigrants. The reason for this is because of its location and this is where the Asian immigrants try to enter the U.S. Angel Island did not last very long however and was closed in the year 1940. -
Alien Land Law Act
This act was put in place to make sure that any aliens who were not eligible for citizenship, also could not own any land in California. This act set the standard for all those who came after it in other states in the U.S. -
The Great Depression
During the times of The Great Depression, many immigrants were blamed. Even those who are offically U.S. citizens were blamed and not just those who were their illegally. The reason for this is because many peoplpe thought that they had less of a chance to get jobs to provide for their families which ended up being true. So in return, all immigrants, illegal and legal, were blamed for this. -
War Changes U.S. Immigration Policy
During World War II, the immigration policy was changed in order to get more people into the U.S. The purpose behind this was to get as many male U.S. citizens as possible in order to draft them into the war. World War II was proving to have a terrible impact on our country and we were loosing far to many soliders. -
The War Brides Act
The War Brides Act of 1945 was put in place in order to allow all those U.S. citizens who had served in the U.S. Armed forces to enter the country. The Spouces of all those men who served were allowed into the country the following year. -
The Displaced Persons Act
The Displaced Persons Act was put in place in order to help those who lost their homes and families during the war. This act states that Europeans who lost their homes and families during the war could Enter the U.S. despite what the quota says about the amount of immigrants allowed into the country. -
Immigration and Nationality Act
The Immigration and Nationality Act was put in place in order to make immigration rights more acceptable for those coming into the country. Many people were turned away based on their race and/or color and this act was put in place in order to help prevet such things from happening and to help give everyone a better chance at entering the country. This act was also put in place to help bring family members of those who are already U.S. citizens into the country in order to reunite the families. -
Refugee Act
In the year 1980, the Refugee Act was put in place in order to help those who were trying to escape the countries they are coming from. Many people were running away from their homes in other countries to do the fact that they were being persecuted for their religions beliefs, race, nationality, or political opinion. -
Immigration Reform and Control Act
The Immigration Reform and Control Act was designed in order to help those who are already existing U.S. citizens keep their jobs and not loose them to undocumented people living in the states that would work for much less money than they already are. These people who were coming into the country illegally were stealing the jobs right out from under those who already had them which caused many people to loose their homes and ended up living on the streets.
