Immigration by the numbers, key events and individuals, legislation

Question 1

‘Waves’ of American Immigration

Answer 1

(1) in the 1840s and 1850s
(2) from the late 1890s to World War I, and
(3) in recent decades, dating from changes in American immigration law in 1965.
- Note that Immigration has been constant since the country’s beginnings

Question 2

What proportion of immigration did the US take on between 1820-1920?

Answer 2

Approximately 35 million of 50 million Europeans who emigrated from their homelands in search of opportunity and material security between 1820 and 1920 came to the United States.

Added to that immense number during the same century must be at least another million, even harder to count accurately, from Asia and Mexico, Canada and elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere.

Question 3

Describe the differences between the three waves of immigration America experienced

Answer 3

(1/2)
The first two waves of immigration came amid the transition of the United States from a rural, agrarian society to an urban, industrial one. Immigrants supplied the reserves of cheap labor that enabled this transition to take place.

(3)
Post- 1965, immigration is largely extra-European

the immigrants are non-white.

Further, a larger proportion of immigrants have entered America illegally.

Immigrants post-1965 ‘come to an increasingly de-industrialized America, where there are fewer well-paying, secure factory jobs in mass production industries of the sort that once helped propel past immigrants into the middle class.’

Question 4

Was the character of American Immigration typically inclusionary or exclusionary?

Answer 4

Approximately 99 percent of the European immigrants of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries came through the process successfully, while the other 1 percent was turned away on a variety of political, social, and physical criteria.

Question 5

The Naturalization Act of 1790

Answer 5

establishes a uniform rule of naturalization and a two-year residency requirement for aliens who are “free white persons” of “good moral character”

Question 6

the Naturalization Act of 1798

Answer 6

permits Federalist President John Adams to deport foreigners deemed to be dangerous and increases the residency requirements to 14 years to prevent immigrants, who predominantly voted for the Republican Party, from becoming citizens (June 25, 1798).

Question 7

The Jefferson Administration revises the Naturalization Act of 1798 by reducing the residency requirement from 14 to five years in what year?

Answer 7

1802

Question 8

Importation of slaves into the United States is officially banned, though it continues illegally long after the ban.

Answer 8

1808

Question 9

Congress passes an act requiring shipmasters to deliver a manifest enumerating all aliens transported for immigration. The Secretary of State is required to report annually to Congress the number of immigrants admitted.

Answer 9

1819

Question 10

Exponential growth in immigration in early 19th century: demographics

Answer 10

1821–1830 143,439 immigrants arrive

1831–1840 599,125 immigrants arrive

Question 11

The ‘second wave’ of immigration: when and why?

Answer 11

1840- 50s

Crop failures in Germany, social turbulence triggered by the rapid industrialization of European society, political unrest in Europe, and the Irish Potato Famine (1845–1851) lead to a new period of mass immigration to the United States.

1,713,251 immigrants arrive 1841-40

1851–1860 2,598,214 immigrants arrive

Question 12

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends the Mexican-American War and extends citizenship to the approximately 80,000 Mexicans living in Texas, California, and the American Southwest.

Answer 12

1848

Question 13

California gold rush leads to Chinese and internal migration

Answer 13

1849

Question 14

For the first time, the United States Census surveys the “nativity” of citizens (born inside or outside the US).

Answer 14

1850

Question 15

The Know-Nothings, a nativist political party seeking to increase restrictions on immigration, win significant victories in Congress, a sign of popular dissatisfaction with growing immigration from Catholic Ireland

Answer 15

1854

Question 16

The Homestead Act 1862

Answer 16

Act provides free plots of up to 160 acres of western land to settlers who agree to develop and live on it for at least five years, thereby spurring an influx of immigrants from overpopulated countries in Europe seeking land of their own.

Question 17

The “Anti-Coolie” Act 1862

Answer 17

Act discourages Chinese immigration to California and institutes special taxes on employers who hire Chinese workers.

Question 18

The Central Pacific hires Chinese laborers and the Union Pacific hires Irish laborers to construct the first transcontinental railroad, which would stretch from San Francisco to Omaha, allowing continuous travel by rail from coast to coast.

Answer 18

1863

Question 19

The Naturalization Act of 1870

Answer 19

The Naturalization Act of 1870 expands citizenship to both whites and African-Americans, though Asians are still excluded.

Question 20

Second Wave of Immigration by the numbers

Answer 20

1881–1890 5,246,613 immigrants arrive

1891–1900 3,687,564 immigrants arrive.

1901–1910 8,795,386 immigrants arrive

1881–1920 2 million Eastern European Jews immigrate to the United States

Question 21

1882 The Chinese Exclusion Act

Answer 21

restricts all Chinese immigration to the United States for a period of ten years.

Question 22

1882 The Immigration Act

Answer 22

1882 The Immigration Act of 1882 levies a tax of 50 cents on all immigrants landing at US ports and makes several categories of immigrants ineligible for citizenship, including “lunatics” and people likely to become public charges.

Question 23

1885 The Alien Contract Labor Law

Answer 23

prohibits any company or individual from bringing foreigners into the United States under contract to perform labor. The only exceptions are those immigrants brought to perform domestic service and skilled workmen needed to help establish a new trade or industry in the US.

Question 24

The demographic trends in immigration to the United States shift as immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe substantially increases, while the relative proportion of immigration from Northern and Western Europe begins to decrease.

Answer 24

1890

Question 25

Congress makes “persons suffering from a loathsome or a dangerous contagious disease,” those convicted of a “misdemeanor involving moral turpitude,” and polygamists ineligible for immigration. Congress also establishes the Office of the Superintendent of Immigration within the Treasury Department.

Answer 25

1891

Question 26

The Geary Act extends the Chinese Exclusion Act for ten more years, and adds the requirement that all Chinese residents carry permits, as well as excluding them from serving as witnesses in court and from bail in habeus corpus proceedings.

Answer 26

1892

Question 27

After President William McKinley is shot by a Polish anarchist (September 6, 1901) and dies a week later (September 14, 1901), Congress enacts the Anarchist Exclusion Act, which prohibits the entry into the US of people judged to be anarchists and political extremists.

Answer 27

1901

Question 28

The Chinese Exclusion Act is again renewed, with no ending date.

Answer 28

1902

Question 29

The Naturalization Act of 1906

Answer 29

standardizes naturalization procedures, makes some knowledge of the English language a requirement for citizenship, and establishes the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization in the Commerce Department to oversee national immigration policy.

Question 30

1907 The Expatriation Act

Answer 30

declares that an American woman who marries a foreign national loses her citizenship.

Question 31

1907 Under an informal “Gentlemen’s Agreement,”

Answer 31

the United States agrees not to restrict Japanese immigration in exchange for Japan’s promise to voluntarily restrict Japanese emigration to the United States by not issuing passports to Japanese laborers. In return, the US promises to crack down on discrimination against Japanese-Americans, most of whom live in California.

Question 32

The Dillingham Commission, established in 1907, publishes a 42-volume report warning that the “new” immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe threatens to subvert American society. The Dillingham Commission’s recommendations lay the foundation for the Quota Acts of the 1920s.

Answer 32

Established 1907, published 1911

Question 33

1913 California’s Alien Land Law

Answer 33

prohibits “aliens ineligible for citizenship” (Chinese and Japanese) from owning property in the state, providing a model for similar anti-Asian laws in other states.

Question 34

Congress enacts a literacy requirement for immigrants by overriding President Woodrow Wilson’s veto. The law requires immigrants to be able to read 40 words in some language and bans immigration from Asia, except for Japan and the Philippines.

Answer 34

1917

Question 35

1917 The Immigration Act of 1917

Answer 35

restricts immigration from Asia by creating an “Asiatic Barred Zone.”

Question 36

The Emergency Quota Act 1921

Answer 36

The Emergency Quota Act restricts immigration from a given country to 3% of the number of people from that country living in the US in 1910.

Question 37

1922 The Cable Act

Answer 37

partially repeals the Expatriation Act, but declares that an American woman who marries an Asian still loses her citizenship.

Question 38

1923 United States v. Bhaghat Singh Thind,

Answer 38

the Supreme Court rules that Indians from the Asian subcontinent cannot become US citizens.

Question 39

1924 The Immigration Act of 1924

Answer 39

limits annual European immigration to 2% of the number of people from that country living in the United States in 1890. The Act greatly reduces immigration from Southern and Eastern European nationalities that had only small populations in the US in 1890.

Question 40

The Oriental Exclusion Act 1924

Answer 40

prohibits most immigration from Asia, including foreign-born wives and the children of American citizens of Chinese ancestry.

Question 41

The Border Patrol is created to combat smuggling and illegal immigration.

Answer 41

1924

Question 42

The National Origins Formula institutes a quota that caps national immigration at 150,000 and completely bars Asian immigration, though immigration from the Western Hemisphere is still permitted.

Answer 42

1929

Question 43

1940 The Alien Registration Act

Answer 43

requires the registration and fingerprinting of all aliens in the United States over the age of 14.

Question 44

Because so many American men are fighting in World War II, the U.S. faced a shortage of farm workers and begins hiring Mexican workers in what was known as the bracero program. About 5 million Mexican workers participate in the program.

Answer 44

1924

Question 45

The Chinese Exclusion Repeal Act 1943

Answer 45

allows Chinese workers to immigrate to the U.S., but with an annual quota of 105.

Question 46

The Chinese Exclusion Repeal Act is broadened to cover Filipinos and Indians, essentially repealing the Immigration Act of 1917.

Answer 46

1946

Question 47

The Displaced Persons Act 1948

Answer 47

The Displaced Persons Act allows up to 200,000 refugees displaced by World War II to enter the U.S.

Question 48

Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (the McCarran-Walter Act)

Answer 48

consolidates earlier immigration legislation into one law and eliminates race as a basis of exclusion.

However, race continues to be a factor because the quota system remains in place, except for immigrants from the western hemisphere.

Immigration from any country is capped at 1/6th of 1% of the population of that nationality based on the 1920 census.

Question 49

1965

The Immigration Act of 1965

Answer 49

gets rid of the nationality quotas, but limits annual immigration from the eastern hemisphere to 170,000, with a limit of 20,000 immigrants per country, and for the first time caps annual immigration from the western hemisphere at 120,000, without the country limit. In addition, a preference system is established for family members of U.S. citizens.

Question 50

1966

Cuban Adjustment Act

Answer 50

allows Cubans to apply for permanent resident status after residing in the U.S. for two years.

Question 51

1975

At the end of the Vietnam War, the U.S. passes the Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1975

Answer 51

resettles about 200,000 Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees in the U.S. and gives them a special parole status. The program was extended to Laotians in 1976.

Question 52

The immigration caps outlined in the 1965 Immigration Act are replaced with an overall annual limit of 290,000.

Answer 52

1978

Question 53

1980

The Refugee Act

Answer 53

defines refugees as a person who flees his or her country “on account of race, religion, nationality, or political opinion.” Refugees are considered a different category than immigrants. The president and Congress are granted the authority to establish an annual ceiling on the number of refugees allowed into the U.S. The act also lowers the annual limit of immigrants to 270,000, from 290,000.

Question 54

1986

The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA)

Answer 54

allows immigrants who had entered the U.S. before Jan. 1, 1982, to apply for legal status but required them to pay fines, fees, and back taxes. It also gives the same rights to immigrants who worked in agricultural jobs for 90 days before May 1982. About 3 million immigrants gained legal status through the law. The act also requires employers to verify work status of all new hires and fine those who hire undocumented workers.

Question 55

1990

The Immigration Act of 1990

Answer 55

sets an annual ceiling of 700,000 immigrants for three years, and 675,000 thereafter.

Question 56

1996

The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act

Answer 56

broadens the definition of “aggravated felony” and increases the number of crimes classified as such so immigrants could be deported for a wider range of crimes. The law is applied retroactively. The act also increased the number of Border Patrol agents and established an “expedited removal” procedure to deport immigrants without a formal hearing.

Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act sharply cuts legal permanent residents’ eligibility for many public-assistance benefits, including food stamps, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and Medicaid.

Question 57

2005

The REAL ID Act of 2005

Answer 57

requires states to verify a person’s immigration status or citizenship before issuing licenses, expands restrictions on refugees requesting asylum, and limits the habeas corpus rights of immigrants.