List of United States Immigration Acts
There have been a number of Immigration Acts in the United States.
- The Immigration Act of 1924 aimed at restricting Southern and Eastern European immigration.
- The National Origins Formula was established in 1929. Total annual immigration was capped at 150,000. Asians were excluded but residents of nations in the Americas were not restricted.
- The Immigration and Naturalization Act (or McCarran-Walter Act) of 1952 somewhat liberalized immigration from Asia, but increased the power of the government to deport aliens suspected of Communist sympathies.
- The Immigration Act of 1965 discontinued quotas based on national origin, while preference given to those who have U.S. relatives.
- The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 granted amnesty to aliens who had been in the United States before 1982 but made it a crime to hire an illegal alien.
- The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 vastly expanded the categories of criminal activity for which both documented and undocumented immigrants can be deported.
Related Legislation
There have been many other laws that have also affected immigration:
- 1882 - Chinese Exclusion Act
- Gentlemen's Agreement
- 1921 - Emergency Quota Act
- 1945 - Charter ratified United Nations
- 1952 - Immigration and Nationality Act PL 82-414
- 1953 - Refugee Relief Act PL 83-203
- 1962 - Migration and Refugee Assistance Act PL 87-872
- 1965 - Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments PL 89-236
- 1974 - Trade Act PL 93-618
- 1986 - Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act PL 99-440
- 1986 - Immigration Reform and Control Act PL 99-603
- 1990 - Immigration Act of 1990 PL 101-649
- 1992 - S. Con. Res. 132/H. Con. Res. 352 Somalia peacekeeping force
- 1996 - Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act
- 1999 - Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act (Kosovo operations) PL 106-31
