MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS IN
THE HISTORY OF U.S. IMMIGRATION

*1917 Immigration Act
- Ninth Proviso: provision allowing U.S. Attorney General to “waive” entrance requirements set in the Act when there was a need to allow such entries. The mechanism under which the World War I Bracero Program was implemented.
*Palmer Raids (1919-1920)
- Raids carried out by the U.S. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer that led to over 10,000 persons being arrested; about 247 were deported.
*1921 Immigration Act
- The first effort to establish “quotas” (numerical limits) on migration to the U.S.; set at 3% of that nationality who lived in the U.S. in 1910. Approximately 350,000 were permitted to enter each year, mostly from Northern and Western Europe. Western Hemisphere was exempted.
*1924 Immigration Act
- Set in place the first permanent limitations on migration; set quota at 2% of nationality residing in U.S. in 1890 (total quota – 164, 666). Created the Border Patrol.
*1929 “Registry”
- Allowed for persons without a record of “lawful admission” to establish permanent residency if they could prove they had entered prior to July 1, 1924 (amended in 1939 to June 3, 1921).
*Smith Act (1940)
Required registration and fingerprinting of all migrants over 14 years of age.
*McCarran-Walter Act (March 1952)
- “Texas Proviso”: provision that excluded the employment of undocumented as a form of “harboring”
- Established the “H2” program which allowed persons to enter to perform “temporary work” (agricultural and non-agricultural) in the U.S.
*1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA)
- The annual immigration ceiling is raised to 540,000. Amnesty is offered to those illegal aliens able to prove continuous residence in the United States since January 1, 1982. Stiff sanctions are introduced for employers of illegal aliens. (TAKEN FROM CLOSEUP WEBSITE)
*Proposition 187 – California (1994)
- California initiative denying public education and non-emergency health care services to illegal immigrants. Also, requires teachers and doctors to turn illegal immigrants over to authorities.
Source: “California tries to give back the tired and the poor”, Jim Impoco, U.S. News & World Report, Nov 21, 1994.
*1996 Immigration Act
- In an effort to curb illegal immigration, Congress votes to double the U.S. Border Patrol to 10,000 agents over five years and mandates the construction of fences at the most heavily trafficked areas of the U.S.-Mexico border. Congress also approves a pilot program to check the immigration status of job applicants. (TAKEN FROM CLOSEUP WEBSITE)
*1996 Immigrants lose benefits
- President Clinton signs welfare reform bill that cuts many social programs for immigrants. Legal immigrants lose their right to food stamps and Supplemental Security Income (a program for older, blind, and disabled people). Illegal immigrants become ineligible for virtually all federal and state benefits except emergency medical care, immunization programs, and disaster relief. (TAKEN FROM CLOSEUP WEBSITE)