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Throughout history, Important events have influenced political socialization and government development. U.S immigration laws have been drastically modified due some of these events to better protect the U.S Border. However, they have also changed to include and exclude various people due to false stereotypes on those groups of people. Many of these laws had a permanent mark on the U.S. and left an impact across various ethnic and racial groups in the United States.
Following the rapid immigration growth between 1880 and 1920, The Chinese Exclusion Act was implemented in 1882 to regulate Chinese immigration, this law was preceded by growing anti-Chinese violence, as well as various policies targeting Chinese migrants. This act was intended to last for 10 years, but was extended for another 10 years with the Geary Act, and then was made into permanent law in 1902. When the United States joined the allied forces in World War I, new immigration restrictions were implemented with a focus on the continued exclusion of immigrants with Immigration Act of 1917 that halted immigration from the "barred zone", which extended from the Middle East to Southeast Asia, and the Immigration Act of 1924 which increased border patrol on the US-Mexican border where Asians regularly border crossed to arrive to the U.S. Chinese exclusion laws were not repealed until 1943 when China joined the Allied Forces in World War II
Immigration laws and agencies were heavily modified following this terrorist attack on the U.S. In 2002, the Department of Homeland Security was created. This was the the largest restructuring of the U.S. government in contemporary history. The attack created a sense of urgency in the INS’ mission and initiated another shift in the United States' immigration policy, Along with their Involvement with natural and manmade disasters, antiterrorism work, and cybersecurity, the department emphasized border security and removing criminal noncitizens to protect the nation from terrorist attacks.
The Homeland Security Act of 2002 disbanded INS on March 1, 2003. Its constituent parts contributed to 3 new federal agencies serving under the newly-formed Department of Homeland Security (DHS):
Naturalization act of 1790 (1 Stat. 103): This act was the first to establish rules for naturalization. This act was limited to “free white peoples…of good character” and their children under the age of 25.
Naturalization Act of 1870 (16 Stat. 254): This act extended the naturalization process to “aliens of African nativity and to persons of African descent” and with it, the right to vote. However this right was often taken away until the civil rights movement in 1964.
Immigration Act of 1891 (26 Stat. 1084a): This law began a list of people who could be deported, including felons, polygamists, people who carried infectious diseases and “All idiots, insane persons, paupers or persons likely to become a public charge”.
Naturalization Act of 1906 (34 Stat. 596): This act provided rules for immigrants to become naturalized, and required immigrants to speak English in order to apply for naturalization.
Indian Citizenship Act of 1924 (43 Stat. 153): Some Native Americans were recognized as US citizens and granted citizenship. 125,000 out of 300,000 were naturalized but many did not have full citizenship rights until 1948.
Coverature: legal doctrine in the English common law in which a married woman's legal existence was considered to be merged with that of her husband, so that she had no independent legal existence of her own.
Expatriation Act of 1907 (34 Stat. 1228): American woman who marries an alien would lose her citizenship and take on her husband’s nationality; this did not apply to men who married foreign women.
The Cable Act of 1922 (also known as Married Women's Citizenship Act) (42 Stat. 1021b): Repealed Section 3 and 4 of Expatriation Act but women naturalization was still dependent on her husband. Foreign women could not apply for naturalization if her husband did not qualify.
Violence Against Women Act (108 Stat. 1796): This law, first enacted in 1994, provides protection for battered immigrant women with abusive spouses who refuse to sponsor them for legal status, so self petition. Before this law, many immigrant women endured abuse from their citizen spouses in order to obtain legal status. The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) of 2000 built upon the original act of 1994, and allows funding of the VAWA grant program to be used for immigration assistance. It also removed the requirement of being a US citizen in order for them to be protected under VAWA. In addition, a new type of Visa was created, called the U-visa, that is eligible for immigrant women who are victims of certain serious crimes, including domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and trafficking.
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 (22 Stat. 58): This is the first act that restricted immigration on a specific ethnic group. Chinese immigration was banned for 10 years and Chinese naturalization was prohibited. This act ended in 1892 but was extended for another 10 years with the Geary Act, and became permanent law in 1902, and would not be repealed until 1943 when China joined the Allied Nations in World War II.
Immigration Act of 1917 (39 Stat. 874): This act restricted the immigration of peoples from the “barred zone” which extended from the Middle East to Southeast Asia.
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (66 Stat. 163): This act officially ended Asian exclusion.
Page Act of 1875 (18 Stat. 477): Prohibited the entry of Chinese Women to the United States, on the basis of immorality, claiming that they were only immigrating to the US to work as prostitutes.
Cuban Adjustment Act (80 Stat. 1161): Gave Cubans legal status in the US, following the Cuban revolution under Fidel Castro and the Bay of Pigs. Approximately 260,000 Cubans had immigrated to the US from 1960-1970.
Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act of 1997 (111 Stat. 2160): Provided relief from deportation to certain immigrants of Cuba, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador.
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