To USFormany, immigration to the United States during the late 19th to early 20thcentury would be a new beginning to a prosperous life. However there were manyacts and laws past to limit the influx of immigrants, do to prejudice, such asthe Chinese Exclusion Act. Later on into the 20th century there would be lawsrepealing the older immigration laws and acts making it possible for many moreforeigners to immigrate to the United States.

Even with the new acts and lawsthat banned the older ones, no one can just walk right in and become a citizen.One must go through several examinations and tests before he or she can earntheir citizenship. The Immigration Act of March 3, 1891 was the firstcomprehensive law for national control of immigrationItestablished the Bureau of Immigration under the Treasury Department toadminister all immigration laws (except the Chinese Exclusion Act).

ThisImmigration Act also added to the inadmissible classes. The people in theseclasses were inadmissible to enter into the United States. The people in theseclasses were, those suffering from a contagious disease, and persons convictedof certain crimes. The Immigration Act of March 3, 1903 and The Immigration Actof February 20, 1907 added further categories to the inadmissible list.

Immigrants were screened for their political beliefs. Immigrants who werebelieved to be anarchists or those who advocated the overthrow of government byforce or the assassination of a public officer were deported. This act was mademainly do to the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901. OnFebruary 5, 1917 another immigration act was made. This Act codified allprevious exclusion provisions and added the exclusion of illiterate aliens formentering into the United States. It also created a barred zone(Asia-Pacifictriangle), whose natives were also inadmissible. This Act made Mexicansinadmissible. It insisted that all aliens pay a head tax of $8 dollars.

However,because of the high demand for labor in the southwest, months later congress letMexican workers (braceros) to stay in the U.S. under supervision of stategovernment for six month periods. A series of statutes were made in 1917,1918,and 1920.

The sought to define more clearly which aliens were admissible andwhich aliens were deportable. These decisions were made mostly on the alienspolitical beliefs. They formed these statutes in reaction to the BolshevikRevolution in Russia, which led to a Russian economic recession and a surge ofimmigrants used to communistic ideals bringing along with them a red scare.

TheImmigration act of May 26, 1924 consolidated all of the statutes and laws in thepast. It also established a quota system designed to favor the NorthwesternEuropeans because others were deemed less likely to support the American way oflife. The act also barred all Asians as aliens ineligible for citizenship in theU.S. The act of June 14, 1940 permanently transferred the Immigration andNaturalization Service from the Department of Labor to the Department ofJustice. The Act of April 29, 1943 provided for the importation of temporaryagricultural laborers to the U.

S. from North, South, and Central America. TheProgram served as the Legal basis for the Mexican bracero program, which lastedthrough 1964. The Displaced Persons Act of June 25, 1948 was a respond to thelarge numbers of Europeans who had been turned into refuges by World War Two. Italso marked the first Major expression of U.S.

policy for admitting personsfleeing persecution.Theystill had a quota however, of 205,000 displaced persons in a two-year period.(3,1096) The priority went to aliens who were farm laborers and those who hadspecial skills. Racial and Religious factors also affected the implementation ofthe Act. From June 30 until July 1 half of the German and Austrian quotas wereavailable exclusively to persons of German ethnic origin who were born inPoland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, or Yugoslavia and who resided inGermany or Austria. The Immigration and Nationality Act of June 27, 1952 alsoknown as the McCarran-Walter Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 was passedover the veto of President Harry S. Truman.

The Act made all immigration lawscompact into one comprehensive statute. All of the races were made eligible fornaturalization. Sex discrimination was eliminated with respect to immigration.However it still had a quota in preference to skilled aliens. It also broadenedthe grounds for exclusion and deportation of aliens.

The Immigration andNationality Act of October 3, 1965 abolished the national-origins quota system,elimination national origin, race, or ancestry as