Any American woman that marries a non American citizen looses their citizenship.
1917, Literacy Requirement
Immigrants must be able to read 40 words in any language. This law also limits Asian immigration to people from Japan and the Philippines.
1922, Cable Act
Changes Expatriation Act. American women who marry Asian men still lose citizenship.
1934, The Tydings-McDuffie Act
The Philippines became independent of the U.S. The U.S. status of all Filipinos was taken away.
1943, Repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act
All Chinese people living in the U.S. became citizens. The Chinese were no longer deported. Some laws in certain states still prohibited things such as Chinese people marrying whites.
1954, Operation Wetback
An operation to remove illegal immigrants from the southern states. This operation mostly targeted Mexicans.
1990, Immigration Act of 1990
This act increased the limit of legal immigration to the U.S. It also provided a protected status for immigrants of certain countries.
2001, 9/11
The 9/11 terrorist attacks had a big influence on the U.S. and how it dealt with immigration. After the attacks, the U.S. started to take extreme precautions when it came to Immigration such as creating new laws about immigration.
2006, Secure Fence Act
The goal of this act was to secure the borders to prevent the illegal entry of drugs and immigrants. This increased the security, authorized more checkpoints, and allowed the use of cameras and satellites to watch the border.
2011, Penalization of Businesses Hiring Illegal Immigrants
The Supreme Court allowed Arizona's law that punishes businesses who hire illegal immigrants. The arguments that states have no say in immigration is rejected.
1913, Alien Land Law
Prohibited Immigrants from owning agricultural land. It also prevented immigrants from leasing land for a long period of time, but a three year lease was allowed.
1921, Quota Act
An emergency act that restricted immigration in the U.S. It lead to numerical limits on immigration and the use of a quota system.
1924, Johnson-Reed Act
A law was passed that limited immigration from a country to 2% of the population from a certain country that already lives in America.
1942, Filipino Reclassification
Filipinos are reclassified as citizens of the U.S. They are allowed to register in the military.
1946, Luce-Cellar Act
Filipinos and Asian Indians are allowed to become naturalized citizens. The immigration quota is 100 people per year.
1986, Immigration Reform and Control Act
Laws prohibiting businesses to knowingly hire illegal immigrants. Granted amnesty to immigrants who had entered before January 1 1982.
2000, Section 245(i) of the Legal Immigration Family Equity
Allows certain immigrants with an immigrant visa to apply for citizenship even if they entered illegally for a 1000 dollar penalty.
2002, U.S. Patriot Act
This act was started by George W. Bush as an attempt to prevent future terrorist attacks. It reduced restrictions on the gathering of intelligence, and allowed law enforcement more power when deporting illegal immigrants suspected of terrorism.
2010, Arizona Bill
This law made all citizens of Arizona have to carry documents at all times that prove their citizenship. It was against the law to be caught without your documents, and people could get arrested for it.
2012, Illegal Immigrant Children are Allowed to Stay in America
The DREAM act of 2012 allowed certain undocumented immigrants to stay in the U.S. If someone came to the U.S. as minors and graduated high school they would be given permanent residency as long as they had been living in the U.S. for five years prior to the bill.