History of Asian American immigration
Legislation
- 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act Cessation of immigration from China.[1]
- 1917 Asiatic Barred Zone Act Cessation of immigration to the U.S. from mostly Asian countries, including the region of British India.
- 1924 Immigration Act of 1924 limited quota based immigration to the U.S. started.The law was aimed at further restricting the Southern and Eastern Europeans, among them Jews who had migrated in large numbers since the 1890s to escape persecution in Poland and Russia, as well as prohibiting the immigration of Middle Easterners, East Asians, and Indians. According to the U.S. Department of State.homogeneity".[1] Congressional opposition was minimal.
- 1935 Nye-Lae Bill Grants citizenship to veterans of World War I, including those from "Barred Zones".[2][3]
- 1943 Magnuson Act Resumption of naturalization rights to Chinese Americans and immigration permitted from China
- 1945 War Brides Act Temporarily lifted the ban on Asian immigration for spouses and adopted children of service members.
- 1946 The Fiance's Act Allowed entrance of foreign-born fiancées of service members to enter as a nonimmigrant temporary visitor visa for three months, and were required to provide proof of valid marriage within that time frame.[4][5][6]
- 1946 Luce-Celler Act Resumption of naturalization rights to Indian Americans and Filipino Americans. Token immigration allowed, quota set at 100 per year from India and 100 per year from the Philippines.
- 1946 Filipino Naturalization Act Allowed naturalization of Filipino Americans,[7] granted citizenship to those who arrived prior to March 1943.[8]
- 1952 Walter-McCarran Act Nullified all federal anti-Asian exclusion laws;[9] allowed for naturalization of all Asians.[10]
- 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1965 Elimination of racial/nationality-based discrimination in immigration quotas.[11]
- 1989 American Homecoming Act Allowed Amerasian children from Vietnam to immigrate to the United States
Judicial rulings
- 1898 United States v. Wong Kim Ark A US-born son of Chinese immigrants was ruled to be a US citizen under the 14th Amendment; the Chinese Exclusion Act was held not to apply to someone born in the US.
- 1922 Takao Ozawa v. United States Japanese despite being light-skinned are deemed not-white and thereby exempt from rights and privileges of naturalization.
- 1923 United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind Indians despite being anthropologically Caucasian are ruled to be not-white and further ruled to instead be Asian, thereby subjecting them to pre-existing anti-Asian laws
