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Period: to
Immigration policies
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Passenger Law of 1855
regulated proportion of passengers to the tonnage on steam vessels, health & well being of passengers; required to have more space for passengers & offer more services, houses over passageways, sufficient food & water, privy & discipline for passengers,inspections by customs & report deaths;these duties laid on the captain; these supplies also included Africans; if these rules were broken the vessel had to forfeit & pay U.S. $200 for violations of ventilators & $50 for violations of cleanliness -
Anti-coolie Law
banned transportation of “coolies” in ships that were owned or not by citizens in the U.S.;7 sections;(1) no citizen of U.S. should help or prepare any vessel to transport Chinese;(2)any person that helped build or equip/navigate any ship that belonged to U.S. citizen to help “coolie trade” be fined $2000 & jailed;(3,4,5)no person help/transport any coolie on vessel;(6)Pres. of U.S. had power to stop this law & have ship checked if suspected to have coolies aboard -
Immigration Act 1864
Established position of Commissioner of Immigration, reporting to Sec. of State; validated labor contracts made by immigrants before arrival; exempted immigrants from compulsory military service; established office of Superintendent of Immigration for New York city -
Page Act of 1875
stated immigration of Chinese, Japanese or Asian people to the U.S. must be free & voluntary; 5 sections; (2)anyone who tried to move any Chinese, Japanese or any Asian w/o their consent fined & jail, (3)any woman moved to the U.S. for prostitution was forbidden & any contract made before the transport would be voided fine & jail, (4)any person that made a deal to illegally supply Asian slave workers fined & jail, (5)any foreign person denied access if convincted of crime -
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
forced to keep Chinese from coming to the U.S. because the govt felt that Chinese workers were a threat to order in certain communities;Chinese were suspended from coming to the U.S. for the next 10 yrs;if caught bringing Chinese they were fined $500 per head & possibly imprisoned but not for more than a year. All laborers that came after Nov. 17, 1880 were deported;those that came before were registered & given certificates with their names,age,occupation -
Immigration Act 1882
new Immigration Act that 50¢ tax would be charged on all aliens landing in U.S. ports; passengers were examined by set of exclusionary criteria; upon examination, passengers who appeared to be convicts, lunatics, idiots or unable to take care of themselves were not permitted to land -
Contract Labor Law
banned American individuals or organizations from engaging in labor contracts with individuals prior to their immigration to the U.S. & outlawed ship captains from transporting immigrants under labor contracts -
Immigration Act 1891
revised version of 1882 Immigration Act;declared certain classes of individuals were unfit to become American citizens;included idiots, insane, poor, anyone carrying disease, convicted of felony/misdemeanor, contrary beliefs (polygamy) or had their ticket paid for by another were not granted citizenship; Upon arrival individuals were inspected & required to give their name, nationality, last residence & where they were planning to go in U.S.;Once on land they had to submit to medical examination -
Geary Act
extended 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act for additional 10 years & required persons of Chinese descent to acquire & carry identification papers -
Scott Act
extended Chinese exclusion laws indefinitely -
Immigration Act
restricted immigration of “undesirables” from other countries;idiots, imbeciles, epileptics, alcoholics, poor, criminals, beggars, insane, tuberculosis, diseased, physical disabilities,polygamists,anarchists,prostitutes;$8 tax & literacy test was imposed on incoming immigrants; intended to tighten the restrictions on those entering the country, especially from Asia & surrounding countries -
Wartime Measure
asserted that any foreigner leaving or entering the country was to abide by the rules & regulations given by the president;anyone that planned to use false documents to leave or enter U.S. were considered criminals & subject to deportation & fines;citizens were required to have passport to leave or enter U.S. -
Emergency Quota Act of 1921
intent was to temporarily limit the number of immigrants to the U.S. by imposing quotas based on their country of birth. There were annual allowable quotas for each country, exceptions to the quotas were made for government official and their families, aliens passing through the U.S. or visiting as tourists, temporary workers, immigrants from countries in Western hemisphere, and minor children of U.S. citizens. -
1924 Immigration Act
set quotas to limit annual immigration to particular countries; identified who could enter as “non-quota” immigrant (wives&unmarried children, under 18, of US citizens, residents of Western hemisphere, religious or academic professionals, & “bona-fide students” under 15; Quota immigrants stated preference would be given to family members of US citizens & immigrants skilled in agriculture -
Ntionality Act
objective to revise existing nationality laws into more complete nationality code; focus is to identify who is eligible for citizenship through birth or naturalization requirements; also identifies groups that are ineligible -
1941 Wartime Measure
stated whenever an American diplomatic or consular office knew or had any reason to believe any alien sought to enter the US for engaging in activities that would endanger society they could refuse any visa or temporary work visa, denying admission to the US -
Bracero Appropriations
put into effect to aid agriculture economy; law passed which distributed $26.1 million to states in need of labor assistance & was to be used for recruitment, transportation, shelter, burial, etc; open to citizens & aliens in US as well as Alaska, Hawaii, & Puerto Rico -
Magnuson Act
repealed Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, established quotas for Chinese immigration, and allowed Chinese nationals in US to become naturalized citizens;due to establishment of quota, increase in Chinese immigration became allowable; Chinese were allowed to enter US & Hawaii -
War Brides Act
described process & limitations of entry of alien spouses & minor alien children of US Armed Forces citizens; subjected to medical exams; any disabilities immigration & Naturalization Service would notify public medical officer, disabilities could not affect duties of US Public Health Service in regards to quarantine diseases;any alien admitted would be classified as non-quota immigrant & any alien temporarily absent would be allowed readmission to US regardless of disability that existed -
Alien Fiancées and Fiancés Act
G.I. fiancée act devised to expedite entrance of foreign-born fiancées of members of US Armed Forces that served in WWII; allowed entrance as nonimmigrant temporary visitor for 3 months on passport visa but required to provide proof of valid marriage within that time frame; if not married in 3 months they had to leave or face deportation -
Chinese War Brides Act
amended previous acts controlling Chinese immigration; all Chinese persons entering US annually as immigrants shall be allocated to the quota for Chinese computed under provisions of section 11 of the said Act -
Displaced Persons Act of 1948
helped individuals who were victims of persecution by Nazi gov. or who were fleeing persecution & someone who couldn’t go back to their country because of fear of prosecution based on race, religion or political opinions;dealt with Germany, Austria & Italy;individuals were granted permanent residency & employment & could bring their family with them as long as they were good citizens& provide financially for themselves;orphaned children would be taken care of by US;2,000 visas were to be granted -
Act on Alien Spousees and Children
put in place to allow entrance of foreign-born spouses & unmarried children of members of US Armed Forces regardless of race if marriage occurred before March 19, 1952; those admitted received immigration visas & did not count towards quotas -
1951 Public Law 78-Extension of Bracero Program
amendment to Agricultural Act of 1949 in effort to include agricultural workers; extended to workers from Mexico; effort to increase amount of labor help during WWII but included strict limitations for both the farmer & farm worker; Sec. of Labor had authority to determine whether a certain area had enough domestic workers, excluding farm worker from Mexico from employment -
1952 the McCarran-Walter Act
meant to exclude certain immigrants from immigrating to America Post WWII; moved away from excluding immigrants based on country of origin& focused upon denying immigrants who were unlawful, immoral, diseased in any way or politically radical, accepting those who were willing & able to assimilate into US economic, social & political structures -
Immigration Reform and Control Act
purpose was to amend, revise & reform the status of unauthorized immigrants set forth in the Immigration and Nationality Act;divided into many sections such as control of unauthorized immigration, legalization & reform of legal immigration; gave unauthorized aliens opportunity to apply & gain legal status if they met mandated requirements, also outlined previsions for temporary residents’ travel, employment, false statements, numerical limitations, adjustments for status & treatment of apps -
1990 Immigration Act
instituted the Diversity Visa Lottery Program;The High Admission regions are not given visas under this act in order to promote diversity. Africa; Asia; Europe; North America; Oceania; South America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Visas are given to countries that do not meet the quota. To qualify for this visa the immigrants must have a high school diploma or equivalent;must have at least 2 years of work experience along with 2 years of training at that job -
Illegal Immigration Act
directly addresses border patrol and upgrades needed for border patrol enforcers, equipment, and the overall patrolling process. It also details an increase in interior enforcement and practices with regard to INS and investigators monitoring visa applications and visa abusers -
Hmong Veteran's Naturalization Act
intention was to “facilitate the naturalization of aliens who served with special guerilla units or irregular forces in Laos.” This act allowed for the English language requirements to be waved, as well as consideration for certain civic requirements, for any Laos national who served in a special guerilla unit or irregular forces in support of the United States between Feb 28, 1961 and Sept 18, 1978. This includes the spouse of the person who applied to the US as a refugee. -
Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act
passed in order to unify the intelligence and law enforcement agencies of the United States. The motive for this intelligence reorganization was the attack on the United States on September 11, 2001. This law was passed to prevent future attacks on American soil -
Real ID Act
national standards for drivers licenses and non-driver identification cards were established; definitions of terrorist organizations and terrorist activity were expanded; criteria for asylum eligibility was modified; judicial review of certain immigration decisions were further limited; waiver authority to construct barriers along the border was expanded; an aviation screening database was established. -
Secure Fence Act
part of Pres Bush’s effort on immigration reform;intended to allow the Department of Homeland Security to gain operational control over the entire United States-Mexico border & maritime border;addresses the evaluation & construction of physical barriers & advanced technology in reinforcing fencing along the southern U.S. border, & assisting in the enforcement of immigration security in specified areas;included in the Act was a provision for a feasibility study of a state-of-the-art infrastructur
