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Immigration history can be viewed in 4 eras,
1.Colonial Period
2.Midnineteenth century
3.Turn of the 20th
4.Post 1965
The settling of America began with an idea. The idea was that people can join
together and agree to govern themselves by making laws for the common good.
With that idea in mind, 102 English colonists set sail in 1620 on the Mayflower. This is
considered to be the start of European migration.
In 1638 the Swedes began their migration to America. They were an organized
group of colonizers sent by the Swedish Government to establish a colony in
Delaware. In 1655, the colony was lost to the Dutch.
During the colonial era most of the immigrants to the U.S. came from Northern
Europe. Their numbers declined during the 1770s, but picked up during the
mid 1800s. New arrivals came from several countries, but mostly from
Germany and Ireland where crop failures caused many to leave their
homelands. Other groups also arrived from the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, the
Scandinavian countries, and Eastern Europe
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Naturalization Act of 1790: Stipulated that “Any alien, being a free white person, may be
admitted to become a citizen of the United States."
1875: Supreme Court declared that regulation of US immigration is the responsibility of the
Federal Government.
1882 The Chinese Exclusion Act: Prohibited certain laborers from immigrating to the
United States.
1885 and 1887: Alien Contract Labor laws which prohibited certain laborers from
immigrating to the United States.
1891: The Federal Government assumed the task of inspecting, admitting, rejecting, and
processing all immigrants seeking admission to the U.S.
1892: On January 2, a new Federal US immigration station opened on Ellis Island in New
York Harbor.
1903: This Act restated the 1891 provisions concerning land borders and called for rules
covering entry as well as inspection of aliens crossing the Mexican border.
1907 The US immigration Act of 1907: Reorganized the states bordering Mexico (Arizona,
New Mexico and a large part of Texas) into Mexican Border District to stem the flow of
immigrants into the United States.
1917 - 1924: A series of laws were enacted to further limit the number of new immigrants.
These laws established the quota system and imposed passport requirements. They
expanded the categories of excludable aliens and banned all Asians except Japanese.
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1924 Act: Reduced the number of US immigration visas and allocated them on the basis
of national origin.
1940 The Alien Registration Act: Required all aliens (non-U.S. citizens) within the United
States to register with the Government and receive an Alien Registration Receipt Card
(the predecessor of the "Green Card").
1950 Passage of the Internal Security Act: Rendered the Alien Registration Receipt Card
even more valuable. Immigrants with legal status had their cards replaced with what
generally became known as the "green card" .
1952 Act: Established the modern day US immigration system. It created a quota system
which imposes limits on a per-country basis. It also established the preference system that
gave priority to family members and people with special skills.
1968 Act: Eliminated US immigration discrimination based on race, place of birth, sex and
residence. It also officially abolished restrictions on Oriental US immigration.
1986 Act: Focused on curtailing illegal US immigration. It legalized hundred of thousands
of illegal immigrants. The 1986 Immigration Act is commonly know as the 1986
Immigration Amnesty. It also introduced the employer sanctions program which fines
employers for hiring illegal workers. It also passed tough laws to prevent bogus marriage
fraud.
USA Patriot Act 2001: Uniting and Strengthening America by providing appropriate tools
required to intercept and obstruct terrorism.
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Most legal immigrants were male but in the 1990s women
accounted for just over half of all legal immigrants, indicating
a shift away from male dominated immigration of the past.
Contemporary immigrants tend to be younger then the native
population of the US with people between ages of 15 and 34.
Immigrants are also more likely to be married now and less to
be divorced then native born Americans of the same age.
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Republican views on Immigration
◦ The Republican Party supports reforming the immigration
system to ensure that it is legal, safe, orderly and humane. It
also supports measures to ensure that the immigration
system is structured to address the needs of national
security. They often believe that many foreigners want to
"invade" the US rather than become part of it.
◦ Democratic views on Immigration
 Democrats would like to see everyone on earth have their
chance at life, liberty and the pursuit of freedom. Although
Americans do come first in terms of the legal protections and
rights that Democrats fight for, their views extend to people
beyond the American borders as well. They want to give
illegal immigrants a chance to prove their worth and
become citizens in the land of the free.