List of United States Immigration Legislation - 1900s, Post-World War II

1900s, Post-World War II

• The Chinese Exclusion Repeal Act of 1943 repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act and permitted Chinese nationals already in the country to become naturalized citizens.
• The Nationality Act of 1940 pertains chiefly to "Nationality at Birth," Nationality through Naturalization," and "Loss of Nationality". Certain miscellaneous matters are also dealt with.
• The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (or McCarran-Walter Act) somewhat liberalized immigration from Asia, but increased the power of the government to deport illegal immigrants suspected of Communist sympathies.
• The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (or Hart-Cellar Act) discontinued quotas based on national origin, while preference was given to those who have U.S. relatives. For the first time Mexican immigration was restricted.
• The Cuban Refugee Adjustment Act of 1966 gave Cuban nationals who enter, or were already present, in the United States legal status.
• The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 granted a path to citizenship to illegal immigrants who had been in the United States before 1982 but made it a crime to hire an illegal immigrant.
• The Immigration Act of 1990 increased the total immigration limit to 700,000 and increased visas by 40 percent. Family reunification was retained as the main immigration criteria, with significant increases in employment-related immigration.
• The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRaIRA) made drastic changes to asylum law, immigration detention, criminal-based immigration, and many forms of immigration relief.