-
Period: to
IMMIGRATION
-
'Emergency' Qouta Act of 1921
This act limited the annual number of immigrants from each nationality to 3 percent of the number of foreign-born persons of that nationality who were living in the United States in 1910. The law did not apply to certain categories of educated people, such as professors, ministers, doctors, and lawyers. Most Asian groups were not included in the list of nationalities. -
War Brides Act
In 1945, the War Brides Act allowed foreign-born wives of U.S. citizens who had served in the U.S. armed forces to immigrate to the United States. In 1946, The War Brides Act was extended to include fiancés of American soldiers who were also allowed to immigrate to the United States. -
Luce-Celler Act
In 1946, the Luce-Celler Act extended the right to become naturalized citizens to newly freed Filipinos and Asian Indians. The immigration quota was set at 100 people a year. -
The Displaced Persons Act
The Displaced Persons (DP) Act of 1948 finally allowed displaced people of World War II to start immigrating. Some 200,000 Europeans and 17,000 orphans displaced by World War II were initially allowed to immigrate to the United States outside of immigration quotas. President Harry S. Truman signed the first DP act on June 25, 1948, allowing entry for 200,000 DPs, and then followed by the more accommodating second DP act on 16 June 1950, allowing entry for another 200,000. This quota, included ac -
Internal Security Act
After the start of the Korean War, the Internal Security Act barred admission to any foreigner who was Communist, who might engage in activities "which would be prejudicial to the public interest, or would endanger the welfare or safety of the United States." -
Period: to
1950-1960
During this decade, the U.S. had 2,515,000 new immigrants with 477,000 arriving from Germany, 185,000 from Italy, 52,000 new arrivals from the Netherlands, 203,000 from the UK, 46,000 from Japan, 300,000 from Mexico, and 377,000 from Canada. -
McCarran Walter Immigration Act of 1952 & Refugee Relief Act of 1953
The McCarran Walter Immigration Act affirmed the national-origins quota system of 1924 and limited total annual immigration to one-sixth of one percent of the population of the continental United States in 1920, or 175,455. The act exempted spouses and children of U.S. citizens and people born in the Western Hemisphere from the quota. In 1953, the Refugee Relief Act extended refugee status to non-Europeans. -
Operation Wetback
Operation Wetback forced the return of thousands of illegal immigrants to Mexico. In "the decade of the wetback", 1944-1954, the number of illegal immigrants coming from Mexico increased by 6,000 percent. The program was ultimately abandoned due to questions surrounding the ethics of its implementation. Citizens of Mexican descent complained of police stopping all "Mexican looking" people and utilizing extreme methods including deportation of American-born children who by law were citizens. -
(Failed) Hungarian Revolution
The failed Hungarian Revolution, before being crushed by the Soviets, forged a temporary hole in the Iron Curtain that allowed a burst of refugees to escape, bringing in 245,000 new Hungarian families to the U.S. by 1960. -
Cuban Adjustment Act
After the Cuban revolution of 1959, led by Fidel Castro drove the upper and middle classes to exile, as 409,000 families emigrated to the U.S. by 1970. This was facilitated by the 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act, which gave permanent resident status to Cubans physically present in the United States for one year, if they entered after January 1, 1959. -
Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA)
In 1986, the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) was passed, creating, for the first time, penalties for employers who hired illegal immigrants. IRCA, as proposed in Congress, was projected to give amnesty to about 1,000,000 workers in the country illegally.