List of United States immigration legislation
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There have been a number of Immigration Acts in the United States.
- The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first race-based immigration act.
- The Immigration Act of 1924 aimed at restricting Southern and Eastern European immigration.
- The National Origins Formula was established in 1929. Total annual immigration was capped at 150,000. Asians were excluded but residents of nations in the Americas were not restricted.
- The Immigration and Nationality Act (or McCarran-Walter Act) of 1952 somewhat liberalized immigration from Asia, but increased the power of the government to deport aliens suspected of Communist sympathies.
- The Immigration Act of 1965 discontinued quotas based on national origin, while preference given to those who have U.S. relatives.
- The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 granted amnesty to aliens who had been in the United States before 1982 but made it a crime to hire an illegal alien.
- The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 vastly expanded the categories of criminal activity for which both documented and undocumented immigrants can be deported.
Related Legislation
There have been many other laws that have also affected immigration and naturalization:
- 1795 - Naturalization Act of 1795
- 1798 - Naturalization Act of 1798
- 1870 - Naturalization Act of 1870
- 1875 - Page Act of 1875
- 1882 - Chinese Exclusion Act
- 1892 - Geary Act (extended and strengthened the Chinese Exclusion Act)
- 1907 - Gentlemen's Agreement
- 1917 - Immigration Act of 1917 (Barred Zone Act)
- 1921 - Emergency Quota Act
- 1922 - Cable Act
- 1924 - Immigration Act of 1924
- 1934 - Tydings-McDuffie Act
- 1943 - Magnuson Act (repealed Chinese Exclusion Act)
- 1945 - Charter ratified United Nations
- 1945 - War Brides Act
- 1946 - Filipino Naturalization Act
- 1952 - Immigration and Nationality Act PL 82-414
- 1953 - Refugee Relief Act PL 83-203
- 1962 - Migration and Refugee Assistance Act PL 87-872
- 1965 - Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments PL 89-236
- 1974 - Trade Act PL 93-618
- 1986 - Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act PL 99-440
- 1986 - Immigration Reform and Control Act PL 99-603
- 1990 - Immigration Act of 1990 PL 101-649
- 1992 - S. Con. Res. 132/H. Con. Res. 352 Somalia peacekeeping force
- 1992 - Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992
- 1996 - Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act
- 1999 - Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act (Kosovo operations) PL 106-31
See Also
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration list of legislative history (http://uscis.gov/graphics/shared/aboutus/statistics/legishist/)