Statue of liberty

Important date of immigrants and citizens of the United States

  • Nationality Act

    First law to give eligibility standards and procedures for immigrants to become a U.S. citizens.
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    Wave of Immigrants

    Western Europe starts gushing immigrants into the U.S. a lot were of Irish descent.
  • Steerage Act

    This act is requiring better ship conditions and demographics of passengers. This will be the first federal records on the demographics of immigrants.
  • Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

    Mexicans choosing to remain in the new United States territory due to the Mexican-American War were granted citizenship.
  • Immigration restrictions

    Immigration restrictions were to be enforced federally and no longer through the state.
  • 14th Amendment

    All persons born in the United States are citizens.
  • Naturalization Act

    Extended the original one from white immigrants to now include aliens of African descent.
  • Chinese Exclusion Act

    This act was for the ineligibility for citizenship and limiting legal entry extremely toward the Chinese race.
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    Second Wave

    This is the next big wave of immigrants from European countries.
  • Immigration Act

    The act was to exclude persons that were liable to end up a public charge, a lunatic, and/or undesirable attributes to enter the United States.
  • Native Americans

    Native Americans did not gain citizenship like stated in the 14th amendment. The amendment did't apply to Native Americans
  • Immigration Bureau established

    Forcing the immigration exclusions became a full time need so congress created the Immigration Bureau
  • Immigration Act

    This act clarified the immigration enforcements of those in-charge and the excludable and deportable immigrants.
  • Certificates of Residency

    Chinese and only Chinese need to carry a Certificate of Residence or face detention and deportation.
  • Ellis Island

    Ellis Island opens as an immigration station.
  • Immigration Act

    Anarchists were a new group that made them eligible to be removed if they were detained after being in the United States
  • Expatriation Act

    Women were stripped of their citizenship if they married noncitizen men.
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    Gentlemen's Agreement

    Teddy Roosevelt negotiated with Japan that the Japanese government would limit how many Japanese citizens would be able to become immigrants of the U.S.
  • Puerto Rico territory

    When we took Puerto Rico as a territory it allowed Puerto Ricans to become citizens of the U.S.
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    Wartime emergency

    During the war enforced immigration restrictions especially targeting anarchists and radicals. After the war there were caps on the amount of immigrants in fear of an increase after the war ended.
  • Cable Act

    The 19th amendment gave women rights so they lifted the Expatriation Act in 1907 and restored citizenship to the women with noncitizen husbands.
  • Indian Citizenship Act

    Finally recognized Native Americans as citizens if born in the United States.
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    Immigration Act

    This act was to put a quota on determining immigrants admissibility and this act was in place for a couple decades.
  • Tydings-McDuffie Act

    United States granted the Philippines independent and were then immigrants of the U.S.
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    War-time order

    Franklin Roosevelt had an executive order rounding up and incarcerating all Japanese Americans living within 100 miles or the west coast.
  • Repeal of Chinese Exclusion

    Needing the China the government granted China the same immigration restrictions as Europe.
  • War-time order lifted

    The end of the year the War-time order was lifted ruling they were loyal.
  • Visa

    Due to the new act this allowed a new category of a visa for temporary stay.
  • McCarran-Walter Act

    This ended racial restrictions on citizenship and provide quota for all nations.
  • International Adoption

    This law was added to be able to reunify family that were separated due to immigration quotas.
  • Immigration and Nationality Act

    This act changes the quota to a new system with a seven-category preference system emphasizing family reunion and skills.
  • Simpson-Mazzoli Act

    Ronald Regan granted amnesty to millions of immigrants illegally living in the U.S.
  • Dream Act

    Propose the first Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors so that undocumented immigrant children brought over by their parent have a pathway to become legal status.
  • Muslim countries

    Donald trump stops travel and immigration from Chad, Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, and Somalia. Travel restrictions on Chad are lifted months later but the rest is still in effect.