Alien and Sedition Acts

• Passed by John Adams

1820-1860 Irish immigration

• Irish potato famine

• Many were Catholic

German immigrants

• Most to midwest to buy farms in Milwaukee, St. Louis, Cincinnati

1849 Know-Nothing Party formed

• Backlash from Irish and German immigrants

1849 Gold Rush

• Attracted immigrants, including Chinese

1880-1992 New Immigrants

• Mostly from southern, eastern and central Europe

• 4 million Italians, 2 million Jews

1882 Chinese Exclusion Act

• Barred Chinese immigrants (.002% of population) from entering US

• First act in American history to restrict an immigrant group

1892 Ellis Island opens

• First immigration station

• New York Harbor

• 1892-1954 more than 12 million immigrants came through Ellis Island

1907 Gentlemen's Agreement

• San Francisco segregated schools

• Restricting Japanese from attending schools with white students

• Theodore Roosevelt urged SF to end segregation

• In exchange, Japan agreed to limit Japanese emigration to US

1910 Angel Island Immigration Station

• Opened in San Francisco

• Operated until 1940

1917 Immigration Act

• Created literacy requirements for immigrants

• Halts most immigration from Asian countries

1921 Emergency Quota Act

• Limited immigrants to 3% of each nationality based on 1910 census

1924 National Origins Act/Asian Exclusion Act

• Limited immigrants to 2% of each nationality based on 1890 census

• Favored immigrants from northern and western European countries

• GB, Ireland and Germany accounted for 70% of available visas

• Prevented immigration from Asia (except US colony Philippines)

1942 Bracero Program

• Allowed Mexican agricultural workers to enter US temporarily during WWI

• Lasted until 1964

1952 McCarran-Walter Act

• Ended exclusion of Asian immigrants to the US

1960-62

• Operation Peter Pan, 14,000 Cuban children allowed to come to the US

1965 Immigration and Nationality Act

• Replaced National Origins formula with system based on preference for immigrants based on skill and family relationships

• Passed by Lyndon B. Johnson

1980 Mariel boatlift

• 125,000 Cuban refugees arrived in Florida seeking political asylum

1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA or Simpson-Mazzoli Act)

• Signed into law by President Reagan

• Made it illegal to knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

• Also legalized undocumented immigrants who arrived before 1982

1994 Proposition 187

• AKA Save Our State (SOS)

• 1994 ballot initiative to prohibit undocumented immigrants from using health care and public education in California

• Referendum was passed Nov. 8, 1994

• But rejected Nov. 11 as unconstitutional

• Cited as the major reason for the decline of the Republican Party in California

2000 DREAM Act (Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors)

• Proposed by Senators Dick Durbin and Orrin Hatch

• Provided pathway to legal status for undocumented immigrants brought to the US illegally by their parents ("Dreamers")

• Didn't pass

2012 DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals)

• Temporary shielded "Dreamers" from deportation (not path to citizenship)

• Signed by President Obama

2017 Trump