Immigration Law in America - Review legislative milestones and key shifts in immigration policy.

From The Wall Street Journal:

1882

Over five million immigrants arrive during the 1880s. Congress enacts the Immigration Act of 1882, banning arriving passengers deemed as 'convicts, lunatics, idiots' or otherwise unable to care for themselves and establishing a 50-cent tax per foreign passenger, for ship owners. The same year, Congress suspends immigration of Chinese nationals for 10 years, through the Chinese Exclusion Act.

1891

President Benjamin Harrison signs a law that makes it a federal misdemeanor to bring into the U.S. any non-citizen not lawfully entitled to enter.

1892

The Ellis Island immigration reception center opens. Congress extends the 1882 ban on Chinese immigrants for 10 more years and requires all Chinese nationals in the U.S. to obtain certificates to prove their presence in the country is legal. The ban is made permanent in 1902. The Chinese Exclusion Act is repealed in 1943.

1917

The Immigration Act of 1917 prohibits immigration from the 'Asiatic barred zone' (British India, most of Southeast Asia, and almost all of the Middle East), with an exemption for students, certain professionals and their families. It also expands the list of reasons immigrants could be barred, placing anarchists and persons previously deported, among others, on the list.

1921

As postwar immigration rebounds, a number of bills are introduced to restrict the number of immigrants. The Emergency Quota Law limits the number of people allowed to enter each year to 3% of the number of foreign-born people of each nationality living in the U.S. as of the 1910 census. The quota doesn’t apply to temporary visitors, government officials, and citizens of Western Hemisphere countries.

 

1924

The National Origins Quota Act further restricts immigration, changing the national quotas to 2% of each country's U.S. population in the 1890 census. Exempt are students, nationals of Western Hemisphere countries, members of certain professions, and the wives and children of U.S. citizens.

 

1942

Prompted by World War II labor shortages, the U.S. and Mexico sign the Bracero agreement, allowing the entry of temporary agricultural workers from Mexico. The program continues in some form until 1964.

 

1948

More than 200,000 people displaced by the former Nazi regime are allowed into the U.S. under the Displaced Persons Act.

 

1952

The Immigration and Nationality Act consolidates several immigration laws into one statute, preserving the quotas but allowing Asian nationals to immigrate for the first time.

1953

The Refugee Relief Act allows as many as 205,000 non-quota immigrants to enter as refugees from war-torn Europe.

 

1962

President John F. Kennedy signs the Migration and Refugee Assistance Act, which is aimed at helping Cubans fleeing Communism.

1965
The Immigration and Nationality Act abolishes the quota system and replaces it with an admissions process based on relationships with U.S. citizens or employers.

1980

The Refugee Act defines a 'refugee' as any person unable or unwilling to return to his or her own country because of persecution or fear of persecution on account of personal opinions, race, religion, nationality or membership in a particular social group.

1986
President Ronald Reagan persuades Congress to pass the Immigration Reform and Control Act. The law imposes sanctions on employers that knowingly recruit or hire unauthorized immigrants and creates two legalization programs, one for illegal immigrants in the country before 1982 and the other for certain temporary agricultural workers. Eventually, under these programs, 2.7 million people would become lawful permanent residents.

1990

President Bush signs into law the Immigration Act of 1990, which increases the limits on legal immigration, eases controls on temporary workers and limits the government’s power to deport immigrants for ideological reasons.

 

1996

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act outlines new reasons for which hopeful immigrants can be determined inadmissible or deportable, expands the list of crimes constituting an aggravated felony, creates expedited removal procedures, and gives judges less leeway in their review of immigration decisions.

 

2001

The Patriot Act, passed as a response to the 9/11 attacks, broadens the terrorism grounds for blocking would-be immigrants and increases monitoring of foreign students studying in the U.S.

2002

Congress mandates the installation of an electronic data system that can share information from federal law-enforcement and intelligence agencies on would-be immigrants, plus an integrated entry-exit data system. It also creates the Department of Homeland Security, which becomes responsible for immigration services, border enforcement and border inspection.  

2005

The REAL ID Act establishes guidelines for removal cases, again expands the terrorism-related grounds for inadmissibility and deportation, adds measures to improve border infrastructure, and requires states to verify that driver’s license and ID applicants are legal U.S. residents.

 

2006

The Senate fails to pass immigration legislation that had passed the House in 2005. Instead, Congress enacts the Secure Fence Act, calling for 700 miles of double-reinforced fence to be built along the border with Mexico.  

2012

President Barack Obama announces the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which could allow nearly two million young illegal immigrants to remain in the country and work legally.