Existing comment:
Citizenship
1776: Declaration of Independence protests England’s limiting naturalization of foreigners in the colonies.
1789: U.S. Constitution, under Article I, Congress is “to establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization,” eventually giving the federal government the sole authority over immigration.
1789: Bill of Rights outlines basic rights under the new government.
1790: Naturalization Act of 1790 provides the first rules to be followed by the United States in granting national citizenship to “free white people.”
1848: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo extends citizenship to all inhabitants living in the territory annexed to the United States following the Mexican War.
1865: Thirteenth Amendment abolishes slavery, although it did not grant formerly enslaved persons the full rights of citizenship.
1868: Fourteenth Amendment grants that all persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens and are guaranteed “equal protection of the laws.”
1870: Naturalization Act of 1870 extends naturalization rights to former African slaves not born in the United States; Asian immigrants remain excluded from citizenship.
1882: Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 is the first U.S. law to ban immigration based on race or nationality; it would be repealed in 1943.
1898: U.S. Supreme Court rules in United States v. Wong Kim Ark that any child born in the United States, regardless of race or parents’ citizenship status, is an American citizen.
1917: Jones-Shafroth Act grants U.S. citizenship to residents of Puerto Rico.
1921: First quota law is passed limiting the annual number of immigrants based on country of origin.
1924: Indian Citizenship Act extends U.S. citizenship to all Native Americans.
1940: Alien Registration Act requires all non-citizen adults to register with the government and empowers the president to deport foreigners suspected of espionage or being a security risk.
1952: Immigration and Nationality Act eliminates race as a bar to immigration or citizenship.
1965: Hart-Celler Act abolishes the national origins quota system, replacing it with a preference system that focuses on immigrants' skills and family relationships with citizens or U.S. residents.
1986: Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 grants amnesty to millions of individuals living in the United States who entered the country before January 1, 1982.
2001: USA Patriot Act amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to broaden the scope of aliens ineligible for admission or deportation to include terrorist activities. |