-
Naturalization Act
Naturalization Act restricts citizenship to "free white persons" who reside in the United States for five years and renounce their allegiance to their former country. -
Irish Potato Famine
Failed Eurpopean revolutions and the Irish Potato Famine caused the first major immigration rush to the United States. -
Contract Labor Law
Contract Labor Law. Unlawful to import unskilled aliens from overseas as laborers. Regulations did not pertain to those crossing land borders. -
Ellis Island Opened
Ellis Island opened to screen immigrants entering on east coast. (Angel Island screened those on west coast.) Ellis Island officials reported that women traveling alone must be met by a man, or they were immediately deported. -
Anarchist Exclusion Act
After President William McKinley is assassinated by a Polish anarchist, Congress enacts the Anarchist Exclusion Act, which allows immigrants to be excluded on the basis of their political opinions. -
Immigration Act of 1917
Immigration Act provided for literacy tests for those over 16 -
Alien Registration Act
The Alien Registration Act requires the registration and fingerprinting of all aliens in the United States over the age of 14. -
Barcero Program Created
Congress creates the Bracero Program a guest worker program bringing temporary agricultural workers into the United States from Mexico. The program ended in 1964. -
Operation Wetback
Operation Wetback forces the return of undocumented workers to Mexico. -
The Immigration and Control Act
The Immigration Reform and Control Act gives amnesty to approximately three million undocumented residents and provides punishments for employers who hire undocumented workers. -
The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibilty Act
The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act strengthens border enforcement and makes it more difficult to gain asylum. The law establishes income requirements for sponsors of legal immigrants. -
Patriot Act
USA Patriot Act amended the Immigration and Nationality Act to broaden the scope of aliens ineligible for admission or deportable due to terrorist activities to include an alien who: (1) is a representative of a political, social, or similar group whose political endorsement of terrorist acts undermines U.S. antiterrorist efforts; (2) has used a position of prominence to endorse terrorist activity, or to persuade others to support such activity in a way that undermines U.S. antiterrorist effort -
SB 1070
Arizona Senate Bill 1070 is signed into law by Arizona Govenor Janet Brewer. This controversial bill calls on police officers to check immgration status during routine stops. -
Arizona v. United States
United States supreme court strikes down some parts of the law as unconstitutional. Most controversial parts are not struck down. -
Gang of Eight Compromise
The senate "gang of eight reveals" the new compromise that the bipartisan group has put into the form of a bill. They are currently attempting to garner support for the bill, but it has not yet gone to a vote in either house.