| 1863 |
President Lincoln signs the Emancipation Proclamation into law, ratifying the freedom of slaves in the U.S.
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| 1882 |
Chinese Exclusion Act: Chinese laborers are denied citizenship and entry into the U.S.
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| 1891 |
Immigration Act establishes the Bureau of Immigration and the first comprehensive law for immigration control, directing the deportation of aliens unlawfully in the U.S.
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| 1905 |
Japanese and Korean Exclusion League is formed by organized labor to protest the influx of "coolie" labor and a perceived threat to living standards of American workers.
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| 1909 |
Halladjian Ruling: federal government re-classifies Armenians from Asiatics to Caucasians: "...They [Armenians] learned a little bit more English than the Japanese did and they look more American..."
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| 1910 |
Mexican Revolution sends thousands of peasants to the U.S. border seeking safety and employment.
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| 1917 |
Immigration Act: Mexicans are exempted from anti-immigration laws so that they can provide labor.
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| 1918 |
Passport Act prevents arrival and departure without documentation. Anarchists Act provides for the deportation of alien "radicals."
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| 1921 |
Emergency Immigration Restriction Law introduces a quota system that favors northern and western Europeans.
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| 1922 |
Ozawa Ruling: Japanese immigrant, Takao Ozawa, challenges the Supreme Court saying he qualified for citizenship but was denied because he was not "Caucasian."
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| 1923 |
U.S. vs. Bhagat Singh Thind: Supreme Court rules Asian Indians to be Caucasian and given privileges as white persons because they could "assimilate." Klu Klux Klan, a virulently anti-immigrant movement, reaches its peak strength. |
