A New Wave of Immigration

Nat. Origins Quota Act

• favored immigration from northern and western Europe 

• remained unchanged until the mid 1960’s

• total number of immigrants arriving to the U.S. was relatively low.

Immigrations Act of 1965

• abolished the national origins quota system

• gave preference to skilled persons & persons with close relatives who are U.S. citizens - policies that remain in place today.

Migration Chains

  preferences given to children, spouses, and parents of U.S. citizens and  new citizens can send for relatives.

Refugee

(someone leaving his/her home country due to well-founded fear of persecution).

McCarran-Walter Act of 1952

During the Cold War, anyone fleeing a Communist regime was admitted

The Refugee Act of 1980

broadened U.S. policy by defining a refugee as anyone leaving his or her country due to “well founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular group, or political opinion.

Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

• strengthened border control to prevent illegal entry

• established penalties for employers who knowingly hired unauthorized immigrants. 

Set up a process of amnesty (pardon) to undocumented  who could prove they entered the country before January 1, 1982 and had since lived in the U.S.

Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996  -  

• required families sponsoring an immigrant to have an income above the poverty level

• allocated more resources to stop illegal immigration

• toughened penalties for smuggling people or providing false documents

It made it easier for immigration authorities to deport undocumented immigrants.

The Patriot Act of 2001

put immigration under the control of the newly created Department of Homeland Security tripled the number of border agents, customs service inspectors and Immigration and Naturalization Service inspectors along the Canadian border

Recent Immigration

CA, TX, NY, NJ and FL have the highest populations of foreign born residents.