US Immigration Legislation

By bizzardlelmont

  • Naturalization Act of 1790

    Established tules for naturalized citizenship
    No restrictions on Immigration
    Citizenship limited to white persons

  • Naturalization Act of 1795

    Lengthened residency requirements on gaining citizenship

  • Alien and Sedition Acts

    Including Naturalization Act of 1798 Increased residency requirements for citizenship from 5 to 14 years
    Allowed for deportation and imprisionment of "aliens"

  • Manifest of Immigrants Act

    First US legistlation regulating migrants to and from US
    First US regulated data collection of immigrants
    Included "Act regulating passenger-ships and bessels"

  • Carriage of Passengers Act

    Repealed Manifest of Immigrants Act
    Limited ship passangers
    Attempted to improve emmigrant ship conditions , as to reduce ill emmigrants entering the US

  • 14 Amendment Passed

    African Americans "gain citizenship"

  • Naturalization Act of 1870

    Increased controls on naturalization
    Included Africans and African Americans
    Did not include other non-whites

  • Page Act of 1875

    Restrictive Immigration law
    Prohibited entry of "undesirable" parties
    "Undesirable" classes included forced laborers, some people of Asian descent, convitcs, etc.

  • Henderson v. Mayor of New York

    Supreme Court Decesion
    Declared all state laws governing immigration unconstitutional
    Gave congress powers to regulate "foreign commerce"
  • Period: to

    Immigration population Increases

    5.2 million or more people emmigrate to the US

  • Chinese Exclusion Act

    Allowed US suspension of Chinese immigration for up to 10 years

  • Immigration Act of 1882

    Introduced $0.50 head tax

  • Alien Contract Labor Law

    Meant to decrease emmigration of laborers to the US
    Made it illegal for US individuals and orginizations from soliciting labor from immigrants before emmigration

  • 15% of US population are Foreign born

  • Act of 1891

    Revision of 1882 immigration Act
    Created Comissioner of Immigration (treasury department)

  • Ellis Island Opens

  • Geary Act of 1892

    Extended Chinese Exclusion Act for 10 years
    Added requirements that Chinese must aquire and carry ID papers

  • Immigration Act of 1903

    Added excludable classes including anarchists and importers of prostitutes.

  • Naturalization Act of 1906

    Required Immigrants to learn English to become naturalized
    Established Federal Government as sole executor of naturalization policy

  • Immigration Act of 1906

    Srnadardized naturalization
    Made knowledge of English a requirement for citizenship
    Established Bereau of Immigration and Naturalization Modified by Immigration Act of 1990

  • Immigration Act of 1907

    Added excludable classes

  • Angel Island Opens

  • Dillingham Comission Released

    Reported on assumed inferiority of "new immigrants"
    Reccomended literacy test

  • Immigration Act of 1917

    AKA Barred Zone Act
    Restriced immigration from Asia
    Reading test for all immigrants over age 14

  • Emergency Quota Act

    Restricted annual immigration from given coutry to 3% of the amount living in the US as of 1910

  • Immigration Act of 1924

    AKA Johnson Act Aimed to counter increasing immigration from South and East Europe and Asia
    Nationality Quotas
    Introduced National Orgina Formula: Total annual immigration 150,000, quota nations and non-quota nations.
    Much easier for non-quotas.

  • Nationality Act of 1940

    Nationality at birth
    Nationality through naturalization
    Loss of nationality Defined who was eligible for citizenship
    Defined status of people born in territories or abroad
    Defined how citizenship could be lost

  • Chinese Exclusion Repeal Act of 1943

    Repealed Chinese Exclusion Act
    Permitted resident Chinese nationals to apply for citizenship

  • Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952

    Made progress in Asian immigration
    Increased government power to deport undocumented immigratns suspected of Communist sympathies

  • Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965

    AKA Hart-Cellar Act Struck down national-orgin quotas
    But prefrence to those with US relatives
    Mexican Immigration restricted for 1st time

  • Cuban Refugee Adjustment Act

    Gave Cuban nationals who reside in or emmigrate to US legal status

  • Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

    Created oathways for undocumented immigrants who had been in the country before 1982, when it became illegal to hire an undocumented worker

  • Immigration Act of 1990

    Increased total immigration to 700,00
    Increased visas by 40%
    Increased Family Reunification
    Increased employment-related immigration
    Creation of Diversity Immigrant Visa Program

  • Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996

    Large changes in asylum law
    Large changes in immigrant detention
    Large changes in criminal-based immigration
    Large changes in immigrant relief

  • REAL ID Act

    Increased political asylum restirctions
    Lessened habeas corpus for immigrants
    Increaed enforcement
    etc.

  • Immigration Act of 1918

    Expanded Anarchist Exclusion Act