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The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 marked the first federal law that restricted immigration of all Chinese laborers for 10 years and prevented Chinese immigrants from becoming U.S. citizens.
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The 1891 Immigration Act was the first national comprehensive immigration law. It created the Bureau of Immigration within the federal Treasury Department and allowed for the deportation of immigrants who enter the country unlawfully.
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The 1906 Naturalization Act made it a requirement for immigrants to learn English in order to become naturalized citizens and standardized forms, fees, and procedures for the naturalization process.
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It established a literacy test and created the "Asiatic Barred Zone," virtually prohibiting immigration from Asia.
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The Quota Law of 1921 was the first immigration law to impose numerical limits on immigration. It capped overall immigration to about 350,000 immigrants a year and restricted immigration from a country to 3 percent of the number of people of that ancestry who were living in the United States in 1910, according to the U.S. census.
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The Immigration Act of 1924 limited the number of immigrants allowed entry into the United States through a national origins quota. The quota provided immigration visas to two percent of the total number of people of each nationality in the United States. It completely excluded immigrants from Asia.
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It reaffirmed the basic provisions of the national origins quota system. The act abolished immigration and naturalization exclusions against Asians and allotted 100 visas for each Asian country. In addition, the act instituted a system to give preference to foreigners with education or skills, as well as relatives.
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The Immigration Act of 1965 abolished the discriminatory quota system, It eliminated race, ancestry, or national origin as a basis for denying immigration to the United States. Some numerical restrictions on immigration were maintained. It also established a "preference system" that is still in place today.
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The act provided unauthorized immigrants the opportunity to apply and gain legal status if they met mandated requirements, yet it also created sanctions against employers who "knowingly" hired illegal immigrants.
