Immigration Timeline

From 1776 to the Present

A series of events, acts, and laws passed that offer an explanation to the various changes in the levels of immigrants in the United States.

First 100 Years: 1776 - 1875

 
• In principal there was an open door policy for all immigrants, with due process for all those incoming to become naturalized citizens. Congress encouraged the entry of more immigrants and the Supreme Court even declared state laws regulating immigration unconstitutional.
 
• Naturalization Act of 1790 - stipulated that "any alien, being a free white person, may be admitted to become a citizen of the United States"
 
• 1875 Supreme Court declared that regulation of US immigration is the responsibility of the Federal Government

First Immigration Restrictions: 1875 - 1917

 
• The first statutes excluding prostitutes and convicts were made. They were followed by general federal immigration laws that included head taxes, exclusion of the handicapped and ill, and the first exclusion act due to race or ethnicity.
 
• 1885 & 1887 - Alien Contract Labor laws which prohibited certain laborers from immigrating to the United States
 
• 1891 - The Federal Government assumed the task of inspecting, admitting, rejecting and processing all immigrants seeking admission to the U.S.
 
• 1892 - On Jan 2nd, a new federal US immigration station opened on Ellis Island in New York Harbor
 
• 1903 - This Act restated the 1891 provisions concerning land borders and called for rules covering entry as well as inspection of aliens crossing the Mexican border
 
• 1907 - The US immigration Act of 1907 reorganized the states bordering Mexico (Arizona, New Mexico, and a large part of Texas) into Mexican Border District to stem the flow of immigrants into the U.S.

First Quota System: 1917 - 1951

 
• Asian exclusion acts were still upheld and further enforced. Along with the previously mentioned exclusion acts, the first quota act - in response to a fear of European inundation - was enforced. The National Origin Quota System established a permanent national origin quota system, restricting permissible immigration, and establishing the system of issuing visas abroad.
 
• 1917 - 1924 - A series of laws were enacted to further limit the number of new immigrants. These laws established the quota system and imposed passport requirements. They expanded the categories of excludable aliens and banned all Asians except the Japanese.
 
• 1924 Act - Reduced the number of US immigration visas and allocated them on the basis of national origin.
 
• 1940 - The Alien Registration Act required all aliens (non-U.S. citizens) within the United States to register with the Government and receive an Alien Registration Receipt Card (the predecessor of the "green card").
 
• 1950 - Passage of the Internal Security Act which rendered the Alien Registration Receipt Card even more valuable. Immigrants with legal status had their cards replaced with what generally became known as the "green card" (Form I-151).

1952 - 1964

 
• The McCarran-Walter Act was established in 1952 and enforced special racial quotes for Asians, established preferences within quotas for aliens with special skills (today’s first, second, and third employment-based preference), established the first procedures for denaturalization and deportation. Established the modern day US immigration system. It created a quota system which imposes limits on a per-country basis. It also established the preference system that gave priority to family members and people with special skills.

1965 - 1985

 
• Amendments to the McCarran-Walter Act were made: the elimination of racial and national origin quotas - in response to the Civil Rights Movement that had begun to take place in the ‘50’s and ‘60’s - established hemispheric quotas, established labor certifications and conditional refugee status, and changed in priority status for skilled workers/families.
 
• 1968 Act - Eliminated US immigration discrimination based on race, place of birth, sex and residence. It also officially abolished restrictions on Oriental US immigration.
 
• 1976 Act - Eliminated preferential treatment for residents of the Western Hemisphere.
 
• 1980 Act - Established a general policy governing the admission of refugees.

1986 - 1995

 
• During this time period 13 different acts were established to control and adjust issues surrounding immigration, their habits, and the outcome of their interaction with society. Issues addressed ranged from sanctions against employers for hiring aliens not authorized to work in the U.S, marriage amendments, drug abuse, nursing relief, armed forces exceptions, technological and scientists exemptions, and crime control.
 
• 1986 Act - Focused on curtailing illegal US immigration. It legalized hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants. It also introduced the employer sanctions program which fines employers for hiring illegal workers. It also passed tough laws to prevent bogus marriage fraud.
 
• 1990 Act - Established an annual limit for certain categories of immigrants. It was aimed at helping U.S. businesses attract skilled foreign workers; thus, it expanded the business class categories to favor persons who can make educational, professional or financial contributions. It created the Immigrant Investor Program.

1996 - 2000

 
• During the next four years, 20 acts, statutes, and amendments were passed to address, limit, extend, and protect the rights of immigrants. Among many other articles established, the first special deportation provision for persons deemed terrorists was completed. Other subjects addressed covered effective death penalty, illegal immigration, immigrant responsibility, relief from deportation, detention, judicial review, conviction/sentencing, aggravated felonies, judicial deportation, employer sanctions, further employment sanctions, extension of stay for some nurses, elimination of visas for certain crime-related groups, international religious freedom, definition of adopted child, victims of trafficking, violence protection, children citizenship, disability waivers for persons seeking naturalization, and legal immigration family equity.

Post September 11, 2001 - 301,139,947 people (July 2007 est.)

 
• The U.S. was subject to 19 additional acts and statutes, the most important being the USA Patriot Act, generally tightening the extent of control over incoming and outgoing persons. The Patriot Act tripled the number of Border Patrol and INS inspectors, permitted the release of summaries of information from FBI’s National Crime Information Center Database, increased the identity verification abilities of the INS, expanded the definition of terrorism to further curtail possible entry of terrorist immigrants, increased information flow in general to extend services and tools to more thoroughly capture problems within the immigrant system, and provided special benefits for family members of persons who were victims of the September 11 attacks.
 
• Other acts that followed covered issues like the extension of work authorization for nonimmigrant spouses, work authorization for spouses of intracompany transfers, family sponsor, enhanced border security, visa entry reform, child status protection, foreign relations authorization, homeland security, national defense authorization, torture victim relief, trafficking victim protection, intelligence reform, violence against women and further terrorism prevention.
 
• Creation of the USCIS 2003 - As of March 1, 2003, the US immigration and Naturalization Service becomes part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The department’s new U.S. Citizenship and US immigration Services (USCIS) function is to handle US immigration services and benefits, including citizenship, applications for permanent residence, non-immigrant applications, asylum, and refugee services. US immigration enforcement functions are now under the Department’s Border and Transportation Security Directorate, known as the Bureau of US immigration and Customs Enforcement (BICE)