Immigration Acts

Question 1

1790

Answer 1

imposed 2 year residency requirement for naturalization

Question 2

1795

Answer 2

imposed 3 year residency requirement for naturalization

Question 3

1875

Answer 3

no “obnoxious persons”; (destitute, engaged in immoral activities, physically handicapped, prostitutes, convicts)

Question 4

1882 (Chinese Exclusion Act)

Answer 4

Chinese Exclusion Act;
• First Act to limit (in this case, end) immigration with reference to national origin)
• Excluded Chinese “skilled and unskilled laborers”, particularly in mining
• A Chinese who already resided in the US could not return if they left the US
• Barred Chinese from US citizenship

Question 5

1892 (precursor to INS)

Answer 5

Creation of Office of Immigration

Question 6

1903

Answer 6

Excluded polygamists and political radicals

Question 7

1907-08 (Gentleman’s Agreement)

Answer 7

• Ends immigration from Japan
• Signed in US in 1907
• Signed by Japanese government in 1908

Question 8

1913 (Alien Land Act in CA)

Answer 8

Made it illegal for non US citizens and all aliens ineligible for citizenship to own land – targeted at Chinese and Japanese, who were not allowed to become citizens

Question 9

Immigration Act of 1917

Answer 9

• Asiatic Barred Zone Act
• Ended immigration for all Asians and “undesirables”
• Exceptions: Chinese and Japanese who were already excluded via Chinese Exclusion Act and Gentleman’s Agreement, respectively

Question 10

1921 (Quota Act)

Answer 10

• 1921 Emergency Quota Act
• First measure to quantitatively restrict immigration
• Allows 3% of foreign born population by national origin in 1910 Census
• Effectively limited the number of immigrants
• Maintained existing racial/ethnic composition of the US

Question 11

1924 Quota Act

Answer 11

• Johnson Reed Act
• 2% of foreign born population by national origin in 1890
• Brings population to an earlier era – fewer Eastern and Southern European
• Reiterated the zero quota for people from Asia

Question 12

1929

Answer 12

• Annual quotas established in 1924 made permanent

Question 13

1933

Answer 13

Roosevelt creates the INS

Question 14

1934 (Tydings-McDuffie Act)

Answer 14

• marked independence of the Philippines in 10 years
• declared all Filipinos already in the US as “aliens”
• quota of 50 Filipinos was established

Question 15

1942 (Bracero Treaty)

Answer 15

• active until 1964

* brought workers from Mexico to work temporarily (on contract with growers and ranchers)

Question 16

1943 (Repeal of Chinese Exclusion Act)

Answer 16

• Chinese allowed to become naturalized

* Allowed quota of 105 Chinese per year

Question 17

1948 (refugees)

Answer 17

• First policies for admitting refugees

* Permitted 205,000 refugees to enter the U.S over two years

Question 18

1952 (Immigration and Nationality Act)

Answer 18

• McCarran-Walter Act
• Reaffirmed national origins quota system (Truman vetoes but Congress overrode)
• Limited immigration from the Eastern Hemisphere while leaving the Western Hemisphere unrestricted
• Established preference for skilled workers and relatives of US citizens and permanent residents
• Kept “political radicals” out (including Communists and WWII enemies)

Question 19

Immigration Act of 1965

Answer 19

• Hart-Cellar Act
• Eliminates old national origin quota system (including the zero Asian quota)
• 170,000 ceiling on Eastern Hemisphere
• 20,000 per country ceiling
• 7 category preference system; favors close relatives of US citizens and permanent residents;
• 120,000 ceiling for Western Hemisphere (no country limits/preference)
• 2 categories not subject to limitations: immediate family and ministers. former employees of US gov., certain foreign medical graduates

Question 20

Revisions to 1965 Act

Answer 20

• 1976 – 20,000 per country limit applied to Western Hemisphere countries
• 1978 – separate ceilings for Easter and Western Hemispheres combined into worldwide limit of 290,000

Question 21

1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA)

Answer 21

• Goal was to decrease the number of illegals in the U.S., enact penalties for employers who hired illegal aliens (before employers were not liable for hiring illegal workers), and increased the number of immigrants
• Legalized aliens who had resided in the U.S. illegally since Jan 1, 1982
• Established sanctions for employers
• Created a new classification of temporary agricultural worker and provided for the legalization of certain such workers;
• Created a new special immigrant category – certain retired employees of international organizations and their
families + a new nonimmigrant status for parents and children of such immigrants.

Question 22

1990 Immigration Act

Answer 22

• 700,000 cap for 1992-1994, 675,000 in 1995; does not include refugees and can be “pierced” if the number of immediate relatives rises beyond 239,000
• Created separate admission categories for family-sponsored, employment based, and diversity immigrants.
• Revised all grounds for exclusion and deportation, significantly rewriting the political and ideological grounds and repealing some grounds for exclusion, etc.

Question 23

Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant

Responsibility Act of 1996

Answer 23

• Established effort to control US borders
• Worksite enforcement of undocumented immigrants
• Increased punishment for illegal entry, passport and visa fraud, and failure to report

Question 24

Change from INS to USCIS (2003)

Answer 24

• Immigration & Naturalization Services changed to
• United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
• Part of Homeland Security
• In response to 9/11

Question 25

``` Consideration of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) ```

Answer 25

* DREAM Act did not pass | * Enacted June 15, 2012