-
Congress Excludes Non-European Citizenship
In 1790, Congress passed a law defining who could become a citizen if they weren't born in the United States. After the Civil War, this law was revised to include African immigrants, but still excluded Asians. -
Heavy Immigration
One of the greatest periods of immigration occurred between 1880 and 1920, where around 25 million immigrants arrived. Most came from the countries of Southern and Eastern Europe - parts of the world that were unfamiliar to many Americans. They viewed these immigrants as very different from themselves. -
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
Chinese made up almost half of the workforce in San Francisco, and the white American miners felt they were stealing their wealth. Congress responded by passing the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which banned all Chinese laborers from entering the U.S. for 10 years. The law stood until WWII, where America and China were allies. At this time, the law was repealed. -
Quota Act of 1921
Congress sets up quotas favoring immigrants from northwestern Europe; the immigration Act of 1924 expands the quota system: immigration from any country is limited to 2 percent of its total numbers in the 1890 centuries -
Immigration Act of 1924
In response to the influx of immigrants, Congress took a more drastic step. The immigration Act of 1924 introduced a quota system by country: Each country's immigrants were limited to 2 percent of foreign-born residents from that country listed in the U.S. Census of 1890. This system favored groups that have been in the U.S. for a long time, and as a result, immigration dropped sharply over the next 40 years. -
Immigration Reform Act
Inspired largely by the civil rights movement and its ideal of equality and social justice, it abolished the quota system based on national origin. When he signed the REFORM BILL, President Lyndon B. Johnson referred to the old system as "Un-American." -
Immigration Reform and Control Act
This act had two purposes. First, Reagan wanted to slow illegal immigration by punishing employers who knowingly hired undocumented immigrants. Second, he wanted to offer a way for long-term undocumented immigrants to become legal. Eligible workers could be granted temporary and then permanent residency. After five years, they could apply for citizenship. -
Immigration Act of 1990
More than 80 percent of American immigrants came from Asia and Latin America. Congress wanted to prevent any one country from making up most of the immigrants to the United States. In order to accomplish this, it passed the Immigration Act of 1990, which said that no country could account for more than 7 percent of total immigrants.The law also considered a person's skills and education. -
Immigration Reform Act of 1996
Concerns about the continuing problem of illegal immigration led Congress to pass yet another immigration law. It increased the border patrol staff and stiffened the penalties for creating false citizenship papers or smuggling undocumented workers. -
Bush's Bill
Bush's bill proposed to fill short-term labor needs through a guest worker program and strengthened border control. Yet Bush argued that his bill was also realistic because it did not propose to track down and deport millions of undocumented workers who were already here. Many found the bill went too easy on illegals, and really amounted to amnesty, or forgiveness. In Late June, the Senate voted the bill down.
