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The Naturalization Act of 1790 was the first country-wide set of immigration and citizenship laws. This law allowed aliens who had been living in the United States for two years to apply for citizenship, and also granted citizenship to children born to U.S. citizens while outside of the country.
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The California Gold Rush sparks first mass immigration from China. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/California_Clipper_500.jpg
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The first instance of enforcing border patrol began in the early 1900's with the "mounted guards," stationed in El Paso, Texas as ranging the border as far east as California.
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The violence and scarcity of jobs during the Mexican Revolution, during 1910, caused many Mexicans to leave their country and come to the U.S. Most of these immigrants settled in the South Western states of the U.S., including California, Texas, and Arizona.
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Arizona's brithday is February 14, 1912!
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The Labor Appropriation Act of 1924 established an official border patrol as a federal law enforcement agency.
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This added new restrictions on immigration from Mexico.
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The new immigration reception center opened in New York in 1892. About 12 million immigrants passed through this reception center.
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This Act made it illegal to hire undocumented workers. It required employers to attest to their employees' immigration status. It also included an amnesty program for aliens who had entered the United States before January 1, 1982.
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This Act strengthened border enforcement. It also stated that if an individual was not a citizen they did not receive benefits.
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The Arizona Legislature passes a law requiring proof of legal status to get a driver's license. Russell Pearce, director of the state Motor Vehicle Division, wrote the law.
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The terrorist attack on 9/11 caused the deployment of military support to the American/Mexican border.
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Gov. Janet Napolitano declares a state of emergency along Arizona's border with Mexico, a move that allowed her to free up $1.5 million in disaster funds to help border counties combat illegal immigration and drug smuggling.
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SB 1070 created state penalties for actions such as harboring or employing illegal immigrants. This law was challenged in the Supreme Court, but the law was upheld.
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Proposition 200, which was passed in 2004, required voters to provide proof of citizenship before registering to vote. On June 17, 2013, the Supreme Court denied this proposition.
