List of United States immigration laws

A number of major laws and court decisions relating to immigration procedures and enforcement have been enacted in the United States.

Year	Name of Legislation/Case	Major Highlights
1798	Naturalization Act Naturalization Act of 1798 The Naturalization Act, passed by Congress on June 18, 1798, increased the amount of time necessary for immigrants to become naturalized citizens in the United States from five to fourteen years... (officially An Act to Establish a Uniform Rule of Naturalization; ch. 54, 1 Stat. 566) Alien Friends Act (officially An Act Concerning Aliens; ch. 58, 1 Stat. 570) Alien Enemies Act (officially An Act Respecting Alien Enemies; ch. 66, 1 Stat. 577)	Extended the duration of residence required for aliens to become citizens to 14 years. Enacted June 18, 1798, with no expiration date, it was repealed in 1802. Authorized the president to deport any resident alien considered "dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States." It was activated June 25, 1798, with a two year expiration date. Authorized the president to apprehend and deport resident aliens if their home countries were at war with the United States of America. Enacted July 6, 1798, and providing no sunset provision, the act remains intact today as 50 U.S.C. § 21
1875	Page Act of 1875 Page Act of 1875 The Page Act of 1875 was the first federal immigration law and prohibited the entry of immigrants considered "undesirable." The law classified as "undesirable" any individual from Asia who was coming to America to be a contract laborer, any Asian woman who would engage in prostitution, and all... (Sect. 141, 18 Stat. 477, 1873-March 1875)	The first federal immigration law and prohibited the entry of immigrants considered as "undesirable" The law classified as "undesirable" any individual from Asia who was coming to America to be a contract laborer strengthen the ban against “coolie” laborers, by imposing a fine of up to $2,000 and maximum jail sentence of one year upon anyone who tried to bring a person from China, Japan, or any oriental country to the United States “without their free and voluntary consent, for the purpose of holding them to a term of service”
1882	Chinese Exclusion Act	Restricted immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. Prohibited Chinese naturalization. Provided deportation procedures for illegal Chinese. Marked the birth of illegal immigration [in America]. The Act was “a response to racism [in America] and to anxiety about threats from cheap labor [from China].”
1891	Immigration Act Immigration Act An Immigration Act is a law regulating immigration. A number of countries have had Immigration Acts including:CanadaThe Immigration Act, 1906The Chinese Immigration Act of 1923The Immigration Act, 1952*The Immigration Act, 1978...	First comprehensive immigration laws for the US. Bureau of Immigration set up in the Treasury Dept. Immigration Bureau directed to deport unlawful aliens. Empowered "the superintendent of immigration to enforce immigration laws".
1898	United States v. Wong Kim Ark United States v. Wong Kim Ark United States v. Wong Kim Ark, , was a United States Supreme Court decision that set an important legal precedent about the role of jus soli as a factor in determining a person's claim to United States citizenship...	A child born in the United States, of parents of Chinese descent, who, at the time of his birth, are subjects of the Emperor of China, but have a permanent domicile and residence in the United States, and are there carrying on business, and are not employed in any diplomatic or official capacity under the Emperor of China, becomes at the time of his birth a citizen of the United States, by virtue of the first clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution, As a consequence, Chinese immigrants were able to enter the US illegally by claiming they were born in California after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire destroyed all San Francisco’s birth and citizenship records. "Papers for fictitious children were sold in China, allowing Chinese to immigrate despite the laws."
1921	Emergency Quota Act Emergency Quota Act The Emergency Quota Act, also known as the Emergency Immigration Act of 1921, the Immigration Restriction Act of 1921, the Per Centum Law, and the Johnson Quota Act restricted immigration into the United States...	Limited the number of immigrants from any country to 3% of those already in the US from that country as per the 1910 census. “An unintended consequence of the 1920s legislation was an increase in illegal immigration. Many Europeans who did not fall under the quotas migrated to Canada or Mexico, which [as Western Hemisphere nations] were not subject to national-origin quotas; [and] subsequently they slipped into the United States illegally.”
1924	Immigration Act Immigration Act of 1924 The Immigration Act of 1924, or Johnson–Reed Act, including the National Origins Act, and Asian Exclusion Act , was a United States federal law that limited the annual number of immigrants who could be admitted from any country to 2% of the number of people from that country who were already...	Imposed first permanent numerical limit on immigration. Began a national-origin quota system.
1930s		Federal officials deported "Tens of thousands, and possibly more than 400,000, Mexicans and Mexican-Americans... Many, mostly children, were U.S. citizens." "Applications for legal admission into the United States increased following World War II — and so did illegal immigration." Some used fraudulent marriages as their method of illegal entry Illegal entry Illegal entry is the act of foreign nationals arriving in or crossing the borders into a country in violation of its immigration law.Migrants from nations that do not have automatic visa agreements, or who would not otherwise qualify for a visa, often cross the borders illegally in some areas like... in the U.S. "Japanese immigration became disproportionately female, as more women left Japan as "picture brides", betrothed to emigrant men into the U.S. who they had never met."
1952	Immigration and Nationality Act	Set a quota for aliens with skills needed in the US.
1953	Kwong Hai Chew v. Colding	The Supreme Court found, "The Bill of Rights is a futile authority for the alien seeking admission for the first time to these shores. But once an alien lawfully enters and resides in this country he becomes invested with the rights guaranteed by the Constitution to all people within our borders".
1954		A wave of illegal immigration came from Mexico in the early 1950s, but it was dampened Operation Wetback Operation Wetback was a 1954 operation by the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service to remove illegal immigrants, mostly Mexican nationals from the southwestern United States.-History:... by President Eisenhower Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army... .
1965	INA Amendments	Repealed the national-origin quotas. Initiated a visa system for family reunification and skills. Set a quota for Western Hemisphere immigration. Set a 20k country limit for Eastern Hemisphere aliens.
1970s		The United States saw a total number of illegal immigrants estimated at 1.1 million, or half of one percent of the United States population.
1976	INA Amendments	Set a 20k country limit for Western Hemisphere aliens..
1980s		About 1.3 million illegal immigrants entered the US.
1982	Plyler v. Doe Plyler v. Doe Plyler v. Doe, , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States struck down a state statute denying funding for education to illegal immigrants and simultaneously struck down a municipal school district's attempt to charge illegal immigrants an annual $1,000 tuition fee for each illegal... ,	The Supreme Court of the United States Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases... struck down a state statute denying funding for education to children who were illegal immigrants Illegal immigration Illegal immigration is the migration into a nation in violation of the immigration laws of that jurisdiction. Illegal immigration raises many political, economical and social issues and has become a source of major controversy in developed countries and the more successful developing countries.In... . It established that a state must show that substantial state interests are furthered before that state can deny a discrete group of children the free public education that it offers to other children within its borders. The court also stated that illegal immigrants are "within the jurisdiction" of the states in which they reside and, therefore, receive 14th amendment protections and stated, "We have never suggested that the class of persons who might avail themselves of the equal protection guarantee is less than coextensive with that entitled to due process. To the contrary, we have recognized [457 U.S. 202, 212] that both provisions were fashioned to protect an identical class of persons, and to reach every exercise of state authority."
1986	Immigration Reform and Control Act Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 The Immigration Reform and Control Act , , also Simpson-Mazzoli Act, is an Act of Congress which reformed United States immigration law.In brief the act:* required employers to attest to their employees' immigration status....	Started sanctions for knowingly hiring illegal aliens. Provided amnesty to illegal aliens already in the US. Increased border enforcement.
1990s		Over 5.8 million illegal immigrants entered the US in the 1990s. . Mexico rose to the head of the list of sending countries, followed by the Philippines, Vietnam, the Dominican Republic, and China .
1990	Immigration Act Immigration Act of 1990 The Immigration Act of 1990 increased the number of legal immigrants allowed into the United States each year. It also created a lottery program that randomly assigned a number of visas. This was done to help immigrants from countries where the United States did not often grant visas...	Increased legal immigration ceilings. Created a diversity admissions category. Tripled the number of visas for priority workers and professionals with U.S. job offers
1990	United States v. Verdugo-Urquidez United States v. Verdugo-Urquidez United States v. Verdugo-Urquidez, 494 U.S. 259 , was a United States Supreme Court decision that determined that Fourth Amendment protections do not apply to searches and seizures by United States agents of property owned by a nonresident alien in a foreign country.-Facts:Rene Martin...	the court reiterated the finding of Kwong Hai Chew v. Colding, 344 U.S. 590, 596 (1953), "The Bill of Rights is a futile authority for the alien seeking admission for the first time to these shores. But once an alien lawfully enters and resides in this country he becomes invested with the rights guaranteed by the Constitution to all people within our borders". Stated, "those cases in which aliens have been determined to enjoy certain constitutional rights establish only that aliens receive such protections when they have come within the territory of, and have developed substantial connections with, this country. See, e. g., Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202, 212 ."
1996	Illegal Immigration Act Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, Division C of vastly changed the immigration laws of the United States.This act states that if an immigrant has been unlawfully present in the United States for 180 days but less than 365 days...	Phone verification for worker authentication by employers. Access to welfare benefits more difficult for legal aliens. Increased border enforcement.
1999	Rodriguez v. United States, 169 F.3d 1342, (11th Cir. 1999)	Held that statutes which discriminate within the class of aliens comport with the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment (and the equal protection principles it incorporates) so long as they satisfy rational basis scrutiny.
Post 9/11/2001		it is estimated that in the first half of the decade starting in year 2000 over 3.1 million illegal immigrants entered the United States. the percentage of Mexicans entering the US illegally jumped from 68% in 1998–2001 to 78% in 2001–2005 mostly because of stricter security measures (tied to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks). .
2002	Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Form Act	Provided for more Border Patrol agents. Requires that school report foreign students attending classes. Stipulates that foreign nationals in the US will be required to carry IDs with biometric technology.
2005	Real ID Act REAL ID Act The REAL ID Act of 2005, , was an Act of Congress that modified U.S. federal law pertaining to security, authentication, and issuance procedures standards for the state driver's licenses and identification cards, as well as various immigration issues pertaining to terrorism.The law set forth...	Required use of IDs meeting certain security standards to enter gov't buildings, board planes, open bank accounts. Established national standards for state driver licenses. Cleared the way for the building of border barriers.

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