How U.S. immigration laws and rules have changed through history
A 1790 law was the first to specify who
could become a citizen, limiting that privilege to free whites of “good
moral character” who had lived in the U.S. for at least two years. In
1870, the right of citizenship was extended to those of African origin.
Starting in 1875, a series of restrictions
on immigration were enacted. They included bans on criminals, people
with contagious diseases, polygamists, anarchists, beggars and importers
of prostitutes. Other restrictions targeted the rising number of Asian
immigrants, first limiting migration from China and later banning
immigration from most Asian countries.
By the early 1900s, the nation’s
predominant immigration flow shifted away from northern and western
European nations and toward southern and eastern Europe. In response,
laws were passed in 1921 and 1924 to try to restore earlier immigration
patterns by capping total annual immigration and imposing numerical
quotas based on immigrant nationality that favored northern and western
European countries.
Long-standing immigration restrictions
began to crumble in 1943, when a law allowed a limited number of Chinese
to immigrate. In 1952, legislation allowed a limited number of visas
for other Asians, and race was formally removed as grounds for
exclusion. Although a presidential commission recommended scrapping the
national-origins quota system, Congress did not go along.
In 1965, though, a combination of
political, social and geopolitical factors led to passage of the
landmark Immigration and Nationality Act that created a new system
favoring family reunification and skilled immigrants, rather than
country quotas. The law also imposed the first limits on immigration
from the Western Hemisphere. Before then, Latin Americans had been
allowed to enter the U.S. without many restrictions. Since enactment of
the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, immigration has been dominated
by people born in Asia and Latin America, rather than Europe.
Several laws since then have focused on
refugees, paving the way for entrance of Indochinese refugees fleeing
war violence in the 1970s and later including relief for other
nationalities, including Chinese, Nicaraguans and Haitians. A 1990 law
created the “temporary protective status” that has shielded immigrants,
mainly Central Americans, from deportation to countries facing natural
disasters, armed conflicts or other extraordinary conditions.
In 1986, Congress enacted another major
law – the Immigration Reform and Control Act – that granted legalization
to millions of unauthorized immigrants, mainly from Latin America, who
met certain conditions. The law also imposed sanctions on employers who
hired unauthorized immigrants. Subsequent laws in 1996, 2002 and 2006
were responses to concerns about terrorism and unauthorized immigration.
These measures emphasized border control, prioritized enforcement of
laws on hiring immigrants and tightened admissions eligibility.
The most recent changes in immigration
policy have been an exception to that pattern. In 2012, President Obama
took executive action to allow young adults who had been brought to the
country illegally to apply for deportation relief and a work permit. In
2014, he expanded that program (known as Deferred Action for Childhood
Arrivals, or DACA) and set up a new program to offer similar benefits to
some unauthorized-immigrant parents of U.S.-born children. The DACA
expansion and the new program (Deferred Action for Parents of Americans
and Lawful Permanent Residents, or DAPA) are on hold because of a legal challenge by 26 states.
