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Naturalization Act Passed
Restricts citizenship to "free white persons" who have resided in the U.S. for 5 years and are no longer loyal to their former country. African Americans and indentured servants were not included in this act. This contributed to our attitude toward immigrants today by giving whites a superiority complex. -
Alien and Sedition Act Signed
Allows President to deport any foreign person he or Congress deem to be dangerous -
Irish Potato Famine Begins
The Irish Potato Famine caused thousdands of Irish to immigrate to the U.S. to flea starvation. 1.5 million came. Because their numbers were so large, and they were predominantly Catholic, they were not trusted by the Americans who thought they would take over and this resulted in many Anti-Irish Immigrant movements that continued on into the 1850's and 60's. These views began making the West coast weary of the incoming Chinese. -
Chinese Exclusion Act signed
President Chester A. Arthur signed the "Chinese Exclusion Act" which made it so that no Chinese that didn't already have family in the United States could immigrate. This seriously reduced the number of Chinese coming into the country and started the "Paper Son" phenomenon where Chinese would get fraudulent documents saying they were the daughter or son of a Chinese person already residing in the U.S. -
Ellis Island Opens
Ellis Island opens in New York as an immigration station. Annie Moore, a 17 year old from Ireland, was the first to be let through. It processes over 12 million immigrants, mainly European, over the next 30 years and is the first step toward America working more with immigration. -
President McKinley assasinated
President Willim McKinley was assassinated by a POLISH anarchist which leads Congress to enact the Anarchist Exclusion Act. -
Immigration Act of 1903 signed
The Immigration Act of 1903, also called the Anarchist Exclusion Act, was signed by President Theodore Roosevelt and allowed immigrants to be excluded on the basis of their political opinions as well as put much tigther regulations on immigration and immigrants entering the country. -
No Intermarriage
Immigration Law is used to perpetuate government values. In this case, a law is made called The Expatriation Act stating that any woman who marries a foreign national loses her citizenship. -
Mexican Revolution begins
With the start of the Mexican Revolution, came the first wave of Mexican political refugees into the U.S. -
California Alien Land Law
Prohibited "aliens ineligible for citizenship" from owning land. It affected mainly the Japanese, Chinese, Indian and Korean farmers and was meant to discourage immigration to California mainly from Japanese Immigrants. -
Literacy Act of 1917 pushed through
The Literacy Act of 1917 said that immigrants have to be able to read at least 40 words in some language. Woodrow Wilson vetoed this bill but Congress pushed it through because many Americans were worried that poor people entering the country decreased the standard of living and wages for the rest of the people in the country. It also prohibited immigration from Asia except from the Phillipines or Japan. -
First Anti-Immigration Act signed
President Warren G. Harding singed the Emergency Quota Act or Emergency Immigration Act of 1921that limited annual European immigration to 3% of the number of a nationality group already living in the U.S. -
Executive Order 9066
This order signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized the military to evacuate 112,000 - 120,000 Japanese and Japanese - Americans from the Pacific coast to internment camps because they were afriad these people would be loyal to their own country and not to the U.S. -
Immigration Reform and Control Act
The IRCA wanted to make it hard for immigrants to find employment and impossible for companies to employ illegal immigrants. -
Obama's Immigration Accountability Executive Action
Obama's order helped crack down on illegal immigration at the border, focused on deporting felons instead of entire families, and mandatory background checks and taxes for anyone planning on staying in the country. This greatly explains America's current attitude towarwd immigration: We are cautious but generous. We no longer fear immigrants but neither do we let them run rampant.
