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George Washington
As America was a young country, many common citizens looked up to the first president. What George Washington does in his presidency will impact the direction America goes in and its first impression with foreign countries. His beliefs and motives will impact the decisions caused by the next president. In many historian's opinion, his presidency was the most critical to America. -
Letter To David Humphreys
George Washington was a strong advocate for immigration. In this letter, Washington states, “Rather than quarrel about territory, let the poor, the needy, & oppressed of the Earth; and those who want Land, resort to the fertile plains of our Western Country, to the second Land of promise, & there dwell in peace, fulfilling the first & great Commandment.” -
Naturalization Act of 1790
George Washington passed the Naturalization act of 1790 in order to slow down the easiness of gaining citizenship to the United States. He welcomed immigrants but he made it harder to get citizenship. These laws would be constantly changed and would evolve into the Naturalization act of 1906. The idea behind these acts are to make sure that the citizenship is given to the right people. -
The XYZ Affair
Amid rising tensions with France, America sent three diplomats to the country to work out a solution democratically. Things didn't go as planned, France being at fault, and America had to plan for war. It was at this point that there is a visible shift in the way the Adams administration viewed immigrants. -
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John Adams
John Adams was thrown into a near-wartime that greatly affected his views on immigrants in America. Unlike his predecessor, Washington, who supported immigrants and believed they made America stronger, Adams was wary of anyone who was not born in America. His laws and policy reflect the mindset that immigrants are a problem to be sorted out. -
Alien and Sedition Acts
These acts were a series of attacks against people not born in America. The Sedition Act tramped down people who spoke out against the President, people that were mainly from the Republican party and pro-alien. The Alien Acts allowed John Adams to deport many people that would not be allowed to be deported otherwise, and one of those laws, the Alien Enemies Act, is still in effect today. -
Approval of Operation "Wetback"
Eisenhower, with the support of Congress and his federal advisers, vetted the deportation operation, which later became known as Operation Wetback. This operation was, and still is to this day, the largest deportation effort in American history. This proclamation by Eisenhower spread fear to undocumented residents in the United States. -
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Dwight D. Eisenhower
While Dwight wasn't a big name president, he was very active in American protection. This led to the very controversial operation, known as the Wetback Operation, where he deported an estimate of 2-3 million undocumented immigrants back to their original countries. With the help and support of the Federal government, he continued this operation until 1955 when he declared America safer than it was last year. -
Eisenhower Calls Operation a "Success"
As the operation ended, 2-3 million undocumented residents in the United States were forced to move to the country they were originally from. Many historians believe that this operation ruined the rapport Eisenhower had with his followers. This permanently tarnished President Eisenhower's reputation as a caring leader. -
The End of the Catch and Release Policy
There were too many illegal immigrants in the nation and President Bush had to do something about it. For him, "doing something" meant ending the catch and release policy. The catch and release policy was that the immigrant had to leave on their own will but he ended this so the immigrants had to be deported. -
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George W. Bush
George W. Bush was a President that had a lot of issues dealing with immigration. He had to do this because of the 9/11 attacks in 2001. This happened during his first year as President and he started the war on terrorism because of this. He also ended the catch and release policy for when the government catches illegal immigrants. He did this because the immigrants could come back unless they were deported. -
9/11 attacks (War on Terror)
On September 11th, 2001, a terrorist group named ISIS attacked the twin towers, and the Pentagon, and attempted to hit the white house. This act of terror incited fear and chaos, and President Bush had to act. He started a war on terror all over the world. He sent the army to places like Iran and Afghanistan to end terrorism and made the people that attacked the United States pay for their actions. -
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Barack Obama
Barack Obama faced an influx of immigration, and in the face of this, deported 3 million immigrants. However, his strategy and planning led to his administration being seen as one of the friendliest when it comes to the modern era of immigration. -
DACA goes into Effect
This and the DREAM act together sparked a new era for aliens. With these laws, people who were brought to America as children can, even today, apply for a way to "earn" citizenship and be allowed to stay here permanently. It is widely viewed as one of the most progressive moments of the Post-WWII Era in terms of immigration. -
Deportation of 3 Million Aliens
By the end of his second administration, Obama had deported 3 million immigrants. This, being an increase from previous administrations, painted Obama in a different light than his self-maintained immigrant-friendly status. Even though it was brought to light that given the rise in illegal immigration during his administration, he actually did better than his predecessors, it is still a controversial topic and one Joe Biden will have to answer for in his presidential campaign. -
Build a Wall
In 2017, President Donald Trump proclaimed that he would build a wall along the border between Mexico and the United States. This strained ties between the US and Mexico because Trump stated that Mexico would pay for the wall. Trump claims building a wall will stop illegal immigration into America. -
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Donald Trump
Donald Trump is the 45th President of the United States and there are many things that he has done to change the immigration issues in our nation and has changed many foreign relations with other nations. Some examples of this are when he said he was going to build a wall between Mexico and the US. He also increased the number of detention homes and increased the internal security of the nation. -
National Security Increase
In Donald Trump's Presidential campaign, the one thing that he focused on was immigration. He wanted to increase the security of the nation and wanted all illegal immigrants to come out from hiding and to get rid of them. Because of this, when Trump got elected, he increased the interior defense of the nation and also increased the number of detention homes in the nation. He did this because he felt it wasn't safe for the people with all of these illegal immigrants around.
