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Early Restrictions
In 1790, Congress passed a law defining who could become a citizen if a person was not born here: Citizenship was possible only for someone who was "a free white person." As that term was then understood, this barred any African or Asian immigrant from becoming a citizen. After the Civil War, this law was revised to allow people born in Africa to become citizens, but Asian immigrants were still excluded from citizenship. -
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Heavy Periods of Immigration
One of the heaviest periods of immigration in American history came between 1880 and 1920 when some 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 saw these new immigrants as very different from themselves. -
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
This act said that no Chinese laborer could enter the United States for 10 years. (Chinese professionals were still allowed to immigrate.) Renewed several times, the act was in force until World War II. In that conflict, China was an American ally and Congress repealed the law. -
Quota Act of 1921
Congress sets up quotas favoring immigrants from northwestern Europe. -
Immigration Act of 1924
The Immigration Act of 1924 expands the quota system: immigration from any country is limited to 2 percent of its total number in the 1890 census. -
Immigration Reform Act
The Immigration Reform Act throws out the nation origins system; now preference is given first to reunifying families and second to people whose skills help the United States. -
Immigration Reform and Control Act
The Immigration Reform and Control Act penalizes employers for knowingly hiring undocumented immigrants, but it gives amnesty to some undocumented immigrants, allowing them a path to eventually apply for citizenship. -
Immigration Act of 1990
Said that no country could account for more than 7 percent of total immigrants. The law also considered a person's education skills. In addition, the 1990 law set up special categories for war refugees or close relatives of American citizens. -
Immigration Reform Act of 1996
This law increased the border patrol staff and stiffened penalties for creating false citizenship papers or smuggling undocumented workers. -
Buch's bill push
President George W. Bush committed himself to backing a bill to address all immigration issues. Bush's bill proposed to fill short-term labor needs through a guest worker program and strengthened border control. The bill also would have fined undocumented immigrants and required them to fulfill certain obligations before they could apply for citizenship-"a path to citizenship." Many, especially Republicans,charged that the penalties were not harsh enough and the bill really amounted to amnesty.
