The United States enacted its first immigration policy on March 26, 1790 when Congress adopted the Naturalization Act, which limited citizenship to free whites "of good moral character," who had been in the United States for two years. Since then, Congress has altered the federal immigration policy more than 150 times. Such milestones in federal immigration policy include:
1882 The Chinese Exclusion Act was enacted and the first federal ban of an immigrant group was established. During the Gold Rush, Chinese laborers came to mine and help build the transnational railroad, yet when the economy soured, Chinese labor was no longer needed or welcomed
1906 Knowledge of the English language was made a requirement for naturalization
1942 The Bracero Program recruited farm workers from Mexico to help the U.S. labor shortages caused by World War II
1950 Immigrants who were, or had been, members of a Communist Party were barred from citizenship
1951 Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, including spouses, children, and parents were allowed to immigrate
1986 The Immigration Reform and Control Act granted amnesty to 2.7 million people and established fines for employers who knowingly hired undocumented workers
1996 The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act created new grounds of visa ineligibility, including bars (3 years, 10 years, and permanent) to persons who were unlawfully present in the United States for more than 180 days. New grounds for deportation were established for false claims to US citizenship, aliens convicted of a crime of domestic violence, and aliens convicted of high speed flight from an immigration check point
In addition to these milestones of federal immigration law, other federal immigration measures enacted over time by the U.S. Congress include the War Brides Act of 1945, G.I. Fiancées Act of 1946, Refugee-Escapee Act of 1957, the Panama Canal Act of 1979, Immigration Marriage Fraud Act of 1986, and the Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992.
The United States immigration policy and process today does not resemble the policies and process used to welcome Annie Moore and her two brothers, the first immigrants to be processed at Ellis Island, on January 1, 1892. Over the course of 62 years (1892 - 1954), 12 million immigrants entered the United States through Ellis Island. In 1907, more people immigrated to the U.S. than any other year with 1.25 million people being processed at Ellis Island.
The current U.S. immigration policy has many nuances, as noted by previous immigration amendments for war brides, refugees, and Chinese students. However, immigration policy is generally broken down into two main categories, family immigration and employment immigration. Each category has its own complexities, but federal law still dictates the number of visas for "permanent" or "temporary" legal status and the process by which that status is granted.
Family reunification has been the organizing principle in U.S. immigration law. Family-based immigration begins with the filing of an immigrant visa petition by a U.S. citizen or legal permanent resident for his/her spouse, child, parent or sibling. Spouses and minor children of U.S. citizens are considered "immediate relatives" and are not subject to an annual quota on visas. Also, parents of a U.S. citizen child that is age 21 are also "immediate relatives." However, for the other categories, each year the United States limits the number of immigrant visas issued. The total number of visas is less than 290,000.
As more families have obtained legal permanent resident status in this country, there is a longer visa wait for spouses, children and siblings of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents. In some circumstances, a foreign citizen may wait more than 20 years from the date her relative files a visa petition with the Department of Homeland Security to obtain an immigrant (permanent) visa.
Within the past year, employment-based immigration has similarly experienced substantial backlogs in processing immigrant (permanent) visas. Employment-based immigration usually requires a finding by the U.S. Department of Labor that an employer has conducted recruitment to fill a position, but no minimally qualified U.S. workers are available. After obtaining this determination, employers must file a visa petition with the Department of Homeland Security to place their potential work in a visa category. The most common category is the "professional and skilled worker" category. Currently, the employers must wait six or seven years to obtain permanent permission for a qualified foreign national to accept the position. Each year, the total number of employment-based immigrant visas issued is limited to 140,000, including spouses and minor children of the principal workers.
