Timeline of Major Immigration Laws
from Immigration: This Land Is Whose Land?
by Lila Perl, Publisher Benchmark Books NY (2009)
1819: Federal government requires that immigrants be counted.
1875: Congress passes the first federal restriction on immigration, prohibiting the entry of
prostitutes and convicts.
1882: (May): Chinese Exclusion Act bans the immigration of Chinese laborers for ten years.
1882: (August): The federal government places a head tax of fifty cents on each new arrival and
bans the admission of lunatics, idiots, and those likely to become public charges.
1892: Geary Act extends the ban on Chinese immigration.
1907: Gentlemen’s Agreement between the United States and Japan applies certain restrictions on
immigration from Japan.
1917: Immigration Law of 1917 requires a literacy test, bans virtually all Asian laborers, including
the Japanese, and raises the immigrant head tax to eight dollars.
1921: Immigration Law of 1921 sets numerical limits on European immigration for the first time.
1924: Johnson-Reed Act (National Origins Act) establishes quotas for European countries-oforigin of immigrants, requires visas and photos for the first time, closes doors to all Asians
(Asian Exclusion Act), and creates Border Patrol.
1942: Mexican Farm Labor Supply Program (bracero program) establishes, in an agreement
between the United States and Mexico, a guest worker arrangement whereby contracted
Mexican laborers will work temporarily in the United States.
1943: Chinese Exclusion Act is repealed as a result of U.S. alliance with the Chinese against the
Japanese in World War II. Chinese are henceforth permitted to immigrate.
1946: War Brides Act: permits foreign-born spouses and children of members of the U.S. armed
forces to enter the country with permanent resident status.
1952: McCarran-Walter Immigration and Naturalization Act reaffirms national-origin quota
system for Europe bus screens immigrants more intensively for communist sympathies. It
establishes preferences for relatives of U.S. citizens and permanent residents, and for
persons with occupational skills. It permits Asian immigrant to become naturalized.
1964: Bracero program of 1952 between the United States and Mexico is terminated.
1965: Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (Hart-Celler Act) abolishes national-origin quotas
for Europe and establishes equal numerical ceilings of 20,000 visas per nation in the Eastern
Hemisphere. Lack of such a restriction for the Western Hemisphere until 1976 leads to
increased Hispanic immigration, along with family reunification policies.
1980: Refugee Act permits South Vietnamese victims of the Vietnam War of 1959 to 1975 to enter
the United States, many through family reunification. Cuban and Haitian refugees also
benefit to a degree.
1986: Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) permits, as its main feature, undocumented
immigrants residing in the United States continually since January 1, 1982, to apply for legal
status within a one-year sign-up period, leading potentially to citizenship.
1990: Immigration Act of 1990 establishes an annual ceiling of 700,000 legal immigrants for three
years and a ceiling of 675,000 thereafter. It also introduces employment-based categories
known as H-1B (highly skilled temporary workers) and H-2B (temporary nonagricultural
labor).
1996: Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRAIRA) tightens rules to
facilitate deportation of undocumented and criminal immigrants. It establishes an income
test for foreign-born residents who are attempting to bring family members to the United
States from abroad, and it authorizes 5,000 additional Border Patrol agents by 2001.
2001: Patriot Act of 2001 is passed six weeks after the September 11 terrorist attacks. It provides
additional funding for the Border Patrol and for advanced technology for the detection of
illegal entrants, who might be terrorists. Immigration becomes a national security issue.
2006: Secure Fence Act authorizes 700 miles of new fencing to be built along the Arizona and
Texas borders with Mexico.