Immigration in United States

“Why don’t they just come legally?”

This is a question we’ve heard often when talking about certain groups of immigrants in the US. Many people will also say “My ancestors followed the rules to come here,” or “I don’t mind immigrants as long as they do it the right way.” 

When we’re talking about immigration, it’s important to acknowledge that immigration laws in the United States have changed a lot over time. For instance, if your ancestors were white and arrived here before 1924, the US border was essentially wide open–coming “legally” didn’t involve much more than booking passage to the US. With limited exceptions, white immigrants could enter the United States and plan to eventually naturalize as citizens. Little to no immigration enforcement took place during this time. Ellis Island wasn’t even open for immigration processing until 1892.

The US government first began limiting immigration based on nationality in 1882 with the Chinese Exclusion Act. Later, other nationality-based quota restrictions would come into effect, with preferential treatment given to Western European and Central/South American migrants. Our current immigration system, where all immigrants are required to have visas and there is a cap on the number of visa allotments each year, was not put into place until 1965. Since then, we’ve seen changes to the refugee and asylum programs, preference categories for visas, and other variations under different presidential administrations.

Under our current system, coming “legally” is much harder for immigrant families. Many are seeking the same things that Americans’ ancestors were–safety, freedom, and economic opportunity for themselves and their children–but now they face years-long visa waitlists (some may wait decades!), thousands of dollars in fees, and maybe even no visa pathway at all. 

Consider what it would be like if your ancestors wanted to immigrate here now. What were the laws like when they came, versus the laws now?

Historical US Immigration Highlights

  • 1776 - 1875

    The United States has limited regulation of immigration, operating largely under an open border policy of free movement. Passports and visas were not required. 

  • 1790

    The Nationality Act of 1790 is the first law to define eligibility for US citizenship by naturalization. This was limited to “free white persons.”

  • 1803

    The US implements a ban on immigration for free Black people in an effort to quell anti-slavery campaigners.

  • 1819

    The Steerage Act of 1819 requires ship captains to report a list of all passengers disembarking in the US

  • 1870

    The Naturalization Act of 1870 allows “person of African descent” to naturalize as US citizens. Other nonwhite immigrant groups are still barred from naturalizing.

  • 1875

    US government begins to restrict immigration for the first time. The Immigration Act of 1875 bars the admission of criminals and makes it a felony to import Asian forced laborers

  • 1882

    The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 restricts immigration of Chinese immigrants and denies US citizenship to people born in China. This was the first US law restricting immigration based on race. The Immigration Act of 1882 prohibits entry to anyone with an infectious disease or deemed a “convict, lunatic, idiot, or person unable to take care of himself or herself without becoming a public charge.” This Act also sets a fee for arriving noncitizens.

  • 1891

    Congress establishes the Immigration Bureau, the first dedicated bureau for enforcing immigration restrictions and processing immigrants.

  • 1892

    Ellis Island opens. The Geary Act of 1892 requires Chinese immigrants in the US to carry a Certificate of Residence to prove their status

  • 1917

    The Immigration Act of 1917 establishes a “barred zone” in the Middle East and Southeast Asia from which no immigrants are allowed to enter the US. It also establishes a literacy test for immigration

  • 1924

    The Immigration Act of 1924 establishes quota-based immigration, with certain numbers of immigrants allowed from certain countries. Until this point, no other major global power had restricted immigration numbers this way. The quota system highly preferenced immigrants from Northern and Western Europe. There were no quotas imposed on immigration from Mexico or other Latin American countries; Congress had tried, but this was defeated because the western US states relied on a steady flow of Mexican workers for railroad, farm, and irrigation projects. The Labor Appropriations Act of 1924 authorizes funding for a Border Patrol to regulate crossings at immigration stations.

  • 1929

    Although there is still no official restriction on Mexican immigration, the Undesirable Aliens Act of 1929 criminalized crossing the border outside of an official port of entry. This misdemeanor offense was intended to restrict Mexican immigration.

  • 1942-1964

    The Bracero Program, an agreement between the US and Mexican governments, allowed Mexican men (without their families) to come to the US to work

  • 1945

    The War Brides Acts allowed exemptions to the quota-based system of the Immigration Act of 1924, allowing World War II soldiers to bring foreign spouses and fiances to the US

  • 1952

    The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 establishes quotas for all nations and ends racial restrictions on citizenship. The nonimmigrant visa category H-2 permits farmworkers to come to the US temporarily

  • 1965

    The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 removed the quota-based system and instituted a cap on Latin American immigration for the first time. This coincided with a shift toward more immigrants from Latin America, Asia, and Africa, and fewer from Europe. Family reunification was prioritized in immigrant admissions.

  • 1975

    The Indochina Migration and Refugee Assistance Act admits 135,000 refugees from the areas of Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos after the fall of Saigon. This included Hmong, Hoa (sino-Vietnamese), lu Mien, and Montagnard peoples.

  • 1976-1978

    The Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments create a per-country immigration ceiling of 20,000 people, and later a worldwide annual ceiling of 290,000

  • 1980

    The Refugee Act of 1980 establishes the US Refugee Admissions Program, a formal US system for admitting an annual number of refugees

  • 1986

    The Immigration Reform and Control Act provides amnesty for about 3 million established undocumented residents in the US, increases border enforcement, and expands worker visa programs

  • 1990

    The Immigration Act of 1990 implements the H-1B visa program for skilled temporary workers. It also establishes the diversity visa lottery.

  • 1996

    The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act adds additional resources for border policing and verification of employment credentials. The categories of criminal activity for which immigrants can be deported are expanded.

  • 2002

    The Homeland Security Act establishes the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in the aftermath of September 11th

  • 2012

    The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program provides temporary protection from deportation to some undocumented young adults who arrived in the US as children

  • 2017

    The Trump administration issues executive orders establishing a ban on travel and refugee resettlement from certain Muslim-majority countries.

  • 2018

    The Trump administration begins separating minor children from their parents at the border, including families applying for asylum. This is described as a “tough deterrent” to discourage border arrivals.

  • 2020

    The Trump administration invokes Title 42 to close the Mexican border for asylum seekers. This was lifted in 2023 by the Biden administration.

  • 2022-2023

    The Biden administration uses parole authority to establish humanitarian parole programs for Ukrainian, Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan immigrants fleeing violence in their home countries via the Uniting for Ukraine (U4U) and Processes for Cuban, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans (CHNV) programs.

  • 2025

    The Trump administration revokes the U4U and CHNV programs and rescinds legal humanitarian parole status for approximately 500,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans. The Trump administration also suspends the US Refugee Admissions Program and ends contracts with all 10 US-based refugee resettlement agencies. 10,000 refugees who are vetted and approved for admission to the US are left in limbo. Additional executive orders from the Trump administration expand the use of expedited removal, immigration enforcement within the US, and challenge US birthright citizenship laws. The Trump administration institutes a “Gold Card” residency permit that allows a path to US citizenship for investors who commit at least $5 million to US-based projects.