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See Also
See Again
© Getty Images
0 / 31 Fotos
January 1776
- 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.”
© Getty Images
1 / 31 Fotos
March 1790
- 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.
© Getty Images
2 / 31 Fotos
August 1790
- 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.
© Public Domain
3 / 31 Fotos
1815
- The first major wave of immigration from Western Europe begins. Most come from Ireland and Germany.
© Getty Images
4 / 31 Fotos
1819
- 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.
© Getty Images
5 / 31 Fotos
1849
- 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.
© Getty Images
6 / 31 Fotos
1875
- 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.
© Getty Images
7 / 31 Fotos
1880
- The second wave of immigration begins, mostly from Southern, Central, and Eastern Europe, including at least four million Italians and two million Jews.
© Getty Images
8 / 31 Fotos
1882
- 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.
© Getty Images
9 / 31 Fotos
1891
- 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.
© Getty Images
10 / 31 Fotos
January 1892
- 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.
© Getty Images
11 / 31 Fotos
1892
- The first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island was an Irish teenager named Annie Moore.
© Getty Images
12 / 31 Fotos
1907
- Immigration reaches an unprecedented peak in the country, with 1.3 million people entering the US through Ellis Island.
© Getty Images
13 / 31 Fotos
February 1907
- 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.
© Getty Images
14 / 31 Fotos
1910
- New York City becomes a major immigrant hub. About three-quarters of the city’s population are new immigrants and new-generation Americans.
© Getty Images
15 / 31 Fotos
1917
- 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.
© Getty Images
16 / 31 Fotos
May 1924
- 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).
© Public Domain
17 / 31 Fotos
1924
- 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).
© Getty Images
18 / 31 Fotos
1942
- 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.
© Getty Images
19 / 31 Fotos
1948
- 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.
© Getty Images
20 / 31 Fotos
1952
- 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.
© Getty Images
21 / 31 Fotos
1956-1957
- 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.
© Getty Images
22 / 31 Fotos
1960-1962
- 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.'
© Getty Images
23 / 31 Fotos
1965
- 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.
© Getty Images
24 / 31 Fotos
April-October 1980
- The Mariel boatlift mass emigration takes place between April and October 1980. About 125,000 Cuban refugees arrive in Florida seeking asylum.
© Getty Images
25 / 31 Fotos
1986
- 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.
© Public Domain
26 / 31 Fotos
2001
- 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.
© Getty Images
27 / 31 Fotos
2012
- 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.
© Getty Images
28 / 31 Fotos
2017
- 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.
© Getty Images
29 / 31 Fotos
2018
- 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. Sources: (History) (ABC News) (HuffPost) See also: Which states have the highest concentration of immigrants?
© Getty Images
30 / 31 Fotos
© Getty Images
0 / 31 Fotos
January 1776
- 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.”
© Getty Images
1 / 31 Fotos
March 1790
- 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.
© Getty Images
2 / 31 Fotos
August 1790
- 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.
© Public Domain
3 / 31 Fotos
1815
- The first major wave of immigration from Western Europe begins. Most come from Ireland and Germany.
© Getty Images
4 / 31 Fotos
1819
- 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.
© Getty Images
5 / 31 Fotos
1849
- 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.
© Getty Images
6 / 31 Fotos
1875
- 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.
© Getty Images
7 / 31 Fotos
1880
- The second wave of immigration begins, mostly from Southern, Central, and Eastern Europe, including at least four million Italians and two million Jews.
© Getty Images
8 / 31 Fotos
1882
- 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.
© Getty Images
9 / 31 Fotos
1891
- 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.
© Getty Images
10 / 31 Fotos
January 1892
- 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.
© Getty Images
11 / 31 Fotos
1892
- The first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island was an Irish teenager named Annie Moore.
© Getty Images
12 / 31 Fotos
1907
- Immigration reaches an unprecedented peak in the country, with 1.3 million people entering the US through Ellis Island.
© Getty Images
13 / 31 Fotos
February 1907
- 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.
© Getty Images
14 / 31 Fotos
1910
- New York City becomes a major immigrant hub. About three-quarters of the city’s population are new immigrants and new-generation Americans.
© Getty Images
15 / 31 Fotos
1917
- 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.
© Getty Images
16 / 31 Fotos
May 1924
- 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).
© Public Domain
17 / 31 Fotos
1924
- 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).
© Getty Images
18 / 31 Fotos
1942
- 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.
© Getty Images
19 / 31 Fotos
1948
- 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.
© Getty Images
20 / 31 Fotos
1952
- 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.
© Getty Images
21 / 31 Fotos
1956-1957
- 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.
© Getty Images
22 / 31 Fotos
1960-1962
- 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.'
© Getty Images
23 / 31 Fotos
1965
- 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.
© Getty Images
24 / 31 Fotos
April-October 1980
- The Mariel boatlift mass emigration takes place between April and October 1980. About 125,000 Cuban refugees arrive in Florida seeking asylum.
© Getty Images
25 / 31 Fotos
1986
- 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.
© Public Domain
26 / 31 Fotos
2001
- 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.
© Getty Images
27 / 31 Fotos
2012
- 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.
© Getty Images
28 / 31 Fotos
2017
- 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.
© Getty Images
29 / 31 Fotos
2018
- 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. Sources: (History) (ABC News) (HuffPost) See also: Which states have the highest concentration of immigrants?
© Getty Images
30 / 31 Fotos
Key events in US immigration history
From the 1700s to the present day
© Getty Images
Indeed, 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. Click on and get to know more.
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