To US For many, immigration to the United States during the late 19th to early 20thcentury would be a new beginning to a prosperous life. However, there were many acts and laws past to limit the influx of immigrants, do to prejudice, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act. Later on into the 20th century, there would be laws repealing the older immigration laws and acts making it possible for many more foreigners to immigrate to the United States. Even with the new acts and laws that banned the older ones, no one can just walk right in and become a citizen. One must go through several examinations and tests before he or she can earn citizenship.
The Immigration Act of March 3, 1891, was the first comprehensive law for national control of immigrationItestablished the Bureau of Immigration under the Treasury Department to administer all immigration laws (except the Chinese Exclusion Act). ThisImmigration Act also added to the inadmissible classes. The people in these classes were inadmissible to enter the United States. The people in these classes were, those suffering from a contagious disease, and persons convicted of certain crimes. The Immigration Act of March 3, 1903 and The Immigration Act of February 20, 1907, added further categories to the inadmissible list.
Immigrants were screened for their political beliefs. Immigrants who were believed to be anarchists or those who advocated the overthrow of the government by force or the assassination of a public officer were deported. This act was made mainly do to the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901. February 5, 1917, another immigration act was made. This Act codified all previous exclusion provisions and added the exclusion of illiterate aliens from entering into the United States.
It also created a barred zone(Asia-Pacifictriangle), whose natives were also inadmissible. This Act made Mexicansinadmissible. It insisted that all aliens pay a head tax of $8 dollars. However, because of the high demand for labor in the southwest, months later congress letMexican workers (braceros) to stay in the U. S.
under supervision of state government for six-month periods. A series of statutes were made in 1917,1918 and 1920. They sought to define more clearly which aliens were admissible and which aliens were deportable. These decisions were made mostly on the alien political beliefs.
They formed these statutes in reaction to the BolshevikRevolution in Russia, which led to a Russian economic recession and a surge of immigrants used to communistic ideals bringing along with them a red scare. The Immigration act of May 26, 1924 consolidated all of the statutes and laws in the past. It also established a quota system designed to favor the NorthwesternEuropeans because others were deemed less likely to support the American way oflife. The act also barred all Asians as aliens ineligible for citizenship in the U. S.
The act of June 14, 1940 permanently transferred the Immigration and naturalization Service from the Department of Labor to the Department ofJustice. The Act of April 29, 1943 provided for the importation of temporary agricultural laborers to the U. S. from North, South, and Central America.
The program served as the Legal basis for the Mexican bracero program, which lasted through 1964. The Displaced Persons Act of June 25, 1948 was a response to the large numbers of Europeans who had been turned into refuges by World War Two. Italso marked the first Major expression of U. S.
policy for admitting persons fleeing persecution. They still had a quota however, of 205,000 displaced persons in a two-year period. (3,1096) The priority went to aliens who were farm laborers and those who had special skills. Racial and Religious factors also affected the implementation of the Act. From June 30 until July 1 half of the German and Austrian quotas were available exclusively to persons of German ethnic origin who were born in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, or Yugoslavia and who resided in Germany or Austria. The Immigration and Nationality Act of June 27, 1952 also known as the McCarran-Walter Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 was passed over the veto of President Harry S.
Truman. The Act made all immigration laws compact into one comprehensive statute. All of the races were made eligible for naturalization. Sex discrimination was eliminated with respect to immigration.
However, it still had a quota in preference to skilled aliens. It also broadened the grounds for exclusion and deportation of aliens. The Immigration andNationality Act of October 3, 1965 abolished the national-origins quota system, eliminating national origin, race, or ancestry as
