Art, obsession, and identity
Immigration has always been a hot topic in America, but how much do you know about its history in the country? In this gallery, we take you through a timeline of key events in US immigration history, all the way up to Trump's new strategy. Click on and get to know more.
The pro-American independence pamphlet ‘Common Sense’ is published by Thomas Paine. Part of it reads: “Europe, and not England, is the parent country of America. This new world hath been the asylum for the persecuted lovers of civil and religious liberty from every part of Europe.”
The Naturalization Act of 1790 is passed. The new law allows "free white person[s] ... of good character," who have been living in the US for two years or longer, to apply for citizenship.
The first US census takes place in 1790. Of the 3.9 million people counted, one in five were of African heritage. The English are the largest ethnic group in the US at the time.
The first major wave of immigration from Western Europe begins. Most come from Ireland and Germany.
The Steerage Act of 1819 is passed. Also known as the Manifest of Immigrants Act, the law regulates the conditions on ships arriving in the US. Demographic information on passengers is also collected for the first time.
The increasing number of immigrants in the country leads to the creation of the nation’s first anti-immigrant political party, the Know-Nothing party.
While some states passed their own immigration laws following the Civil War, in 1875 the Supreme Court declares that it’s the role of the federal government to make and enforce such laws.
The second wave of immigration begins, mostly from Southern, Central, and Eastern Europe, including at least four million Italians and two million Jews.
The Chinese Exclusion Act is passed. The law prohibits Chinese laborers from entering the US. Chinese laborers had steadily immigrated to the country since the 1850s. This is the first law to apply restrictions on a specific immigrant group.
The Immigration Act of 1891 is passed. The law extends the scope of immigrants who are barred from entering the country. These include people convicted of certain crimes, polygamists, and people who are sick or carry any diseases. The federal office of immigration is created, which enforces the act and places inspectors in ports of entry.
Ellis Island, the first immigration station in the country, opens in New York Harbor. Between 1892 and 1954, over 12 million immigrants entered the US through it.
The first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island was an Irish teenager named Annie Moore.
Immigration reaches an unprecedented peak in the country, with 1.3 million people entering the US through Ellis Island.
The United States and Japan sign the Gentlemen’s Agreement. The Japanese government agrees to limit the issuing of passports to citizens looking to emigrate to the US (bar a few exceptions). In return, President Theodore Roosevelt calls for the end of the segregation of Japanese students in San Francisco.
New York City becomes a major immigrant hub. About three-quarters of the city’s population are new immigrants and new-generation Americans.
The Immigration Act of 1917 is passed. The new act requires new immigrants entering the country to have a certain degree of literacy. The law also bars immigration from most Asian countries.
The Immigration Act of 1924 comes into force. The act implements nationality quotas in an attempt to reduce immigration. Northern and Western European countries are favored by the law, with Great Britain, Ireland, and Germany accounting for 70% of all visas. Immigrants from Asia are excluded (except for the Philippines).
The new act leads to an increase in illegal immigration. In response, the United States Border Patrol is established. Both the Mexican and Canadian borders are patrolled in an attempt to crack down on illegal immigrants (many of whom were Asians barred from entering the country).
The United States and Mexico form the Bracero Program, in an attempt to combat labor shortages in the US during World War II. The program allowed for millions of Mexican men to work legally, albeit temporarily, in the US up until 1964.
The Displaced Persons Act of 1948, the country’s first refugee and resettlement law, is passed. The new law is created to deal with the large influx of Europeans seeking a new home in the US following WWII.
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, also known as the McCarran-Walter Act, is passed, formally ending the exclusion of Asian immigrants to the US.
The country takes in the first Cold War refugees: about 38,000 immigrants from Hungary, who fled the country after a failed uprising against the Soviet Union. During the Cold War, it’s estimated that over three million refugees entered the US.
About 14,000 unaccompanied Cuban minors enter the US under America’s clandestine anti-communist program Operation Peter Pan. The covert program allowed for parents to send their children to escape Fidel Castro’s communist 'indoctrination.'
The Immigration and Nationality Act is passed. The law puts an end to the previous national origin quotas. Instead of the quotas, a seven-category preference system is introduced. Over the next few years, thousands of Asians from countries such as Vietnam and Cambodia fled war in their countries to seek asylum in the US.
The Mariel boatlift mass emigration takes place between April and October 1980. About 125,000 Cuban refugees arrive in Florida seeking asylum.
The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, aka the Simpson-Mazzoli Act, is signed by President Ronald Reagan. The act grants amnesty to more than three million illegal immigrants.
The Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors (DREAM) Act is proposed by senators Dick Durbin and Orrin Hatch, but the bill doesn’t pass. The act aimed to implement a process to legalize Dreamers, undocumented children brought to the US illegally by their parents.
Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is signed by President Barack Obama. DACA temporarily delays the deportation of undocumented people who came to the US as children. DACA, however, doesn’t provide a path to citizenship.
Two executive orders are signed by President Donald Trump in an attempt to ban travel and immigration from Chad, Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, North Korea, and Venezuela. The so-called “Muslim ban” is challenged in the courts.
Travel restrictions on Chad are lifted in April 2018. However, in June 2018, the Supreme Court upholds the travel ban on the remaining countries on the list. Following Biden's inauguration in 2021, he revoked the Trump's travel bans entirely.
Donald Trump spent much of his 2024 presidential campaign spreading misinformation about immigrants in the US, and promised to order a mass deportation of 11 million illegal immigrants. Beyond the ethical issues of these actions, the plan was estimated to cost US$88 billion per year and the sudden removal of this many migrant workers could be seriously destabilizing to many industries. Trump also promised to shut down the US-Mexico border entirely to prevent any further entries.
Donald Trump returned to the White House on January 20, 2025, and began implementing his new immigration policies from day one. Since then he has signed a flurry of executive orders and has already begun making changes to policies related to issues including the border with Mexico, birthright citizenship, the designation of foreign terrorist organizations, shutting down immigration pipelines, and spending on US refugee resettlement programs.
Sources: (History) (ABC News) (HuffPost)
See also: Which states have the highest concentration of immigrants?
US immigration history. What led us here?
From the 1700s to the present day
LIFESTYLE Society
Immigration has always been a hot topic in America, but how much do you know about its history in the country? In this gallery, we take you through a timeline of key events in US immigration history, all the way up to Trump's new strategy. Click on and get to know more.