History of US Immigration Policy

In the wake of the Civil War, states began to pass their own immigration policies. By 1875, however, the federal government stepped in to declare its role in handling immigration, according to the Center for Immigration Studies.

In 1882, the first general immigration law was passed, adding a 50 cent tax on those passengers arriving to the U.S. by ship. It also put the U.S. Treasury Department in charge of immigration, ABC News reported.

By 1891, the U.S. Immigration Service was born, and it served to handle about 24 million immigrants who made their way to the U.S. through a boom period from 1900 to 1924, the CIS noted.

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To put the brakes on so many immigrants arriving, Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1924, restricting numbers and also creating quotas on numbers from certain nations. With it, according to ABC, "immigration dropped from nearly 707,000 in 1924 to roughly 294,000 in 1925."

In 1948, Congress passed the Displaced Persons Act, giving refuge for foreign immigrants, including many from Europe, after World War II. By 1965, Congress passed a major overhaul of immigration policy with the Immigration and Nationality Act. Thereafter, reforms included allowing undocumented children the right to a public education, and a 1986 amnesty bill that offered citizenship to millions of undocumented workers as well as made it a crime to hire an illegal worker.

In 2002, in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Department of Homeland Security was created. Border security was increased and so were deportations.

By 2012, however, President Barack Obama, via executive order, stopped such deportations temporarily, offering some immigrants amnesty and the chance to stay in school, and encouraging a legal path to citizenship.

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