Immigration in America is not a pleasant topic. Our immigration history is founded on pushing native people off of their land and declaring it “newly discovered”.

Think about the way we talk about Columbus. He “discovered” America, right? But how do you discover something that thousands of people have lived on for thousands of years?

That’s just one example. The immigration laws in the US are nuanced more now than they have been in the past. Want to learn what it was like to come to America 200 years ago? 150?

Read about our history below.

1776: The Common Sense Pamphlet

Thomas Paine was born in England and came to America, as most of our founding fathers did (or at least their ancestry did).

In the 1770s, he made a pamphlet that encouraged people to stop considering themselves as British or European and call themselves Americans. In this pamphlet, he doesn’t mention race or background – but it’s very much written for white men.

Especially since white men are the majority of people who can read at this time.

1790: The Naturalization Act

This is the first law about immigration that’s ever actually on the books. Congress passed it in March 1790 and yes – it’s very exclusive to white men.

The actual act states that if you’re a white person “of good character” aka not a felon or someone that swears to another country, you have rights in the US. If you met that description and have been living here for two years or longer, you can apply for citizenship.

Once you have citizenship, you’re given the right to vote, own property, and testify in court.

In August of this same year, they have the first official census. The majority of inhabitants are British, though one in five “Americans” has African heritage.

We say Americans in quotes because black people weren’t considered citizens at the time because of the naturalization act.

There were 3.9 million people living in the States at the beginning of our history. That doesn’t count native tribes living on settled or not yet settled the territory.

*Source for years and wording of laws, here.

1798: Alien and Sedition Acts

While the wording in the Naturalization act was pretty clear (white), Congress passed four laws eight years later.

These laws state that the government has the right to remove people who aren’t citizens or who can’t qualify as citizens. If you’re someone who’s not a citizen and comes from a country the US is at war with, they have the right to send you off.

Namely, these are British loyalists who aren’t so keen on the new and separate nation. The law was seen as excessive and repealed four years later.

Though it was only on the books for four years, it does give us insight into how the US thinks of immigrants. In this instance, they saw non-citizens as a threat that needed be removed.

We can see this same wording and sentiment reflected in some of the more extreme modern pieces of legislation.

1864: The Immigration Act

Things with Immigration were rather calm for the first half of the 1800s, except for complications with the war of 1812.

There was a big wave of Irish immigrants in the early part of the century, which changed around the original census demographics a lot.

The Irish were one of the first immigrant groups to be treated less than, at least on a large scale.

This immigration doesn’t cite the Irish in any way, but the context suggestions the arrival of new immigrants has something to do with it.

The act creates the office of the “Commissioner of Immigration” who works under the Secretary of State. Part of their scope includes enforcing labor contracts, even if those contracts were from other countries.

That means that if someone arrives in the US with slaves in their possession, those slaves don’t get freedom by crossing the US shore.

The Immigration Act of 1882

This is the first time we see money officially tied to immigration. We’re sure bribes existed previously to this – but 1882 is the first monetary exchange for immigration on record.

And it wasn’t a light charge either. In 1882, fifty cents was a lot of money. That’s what it cost for immigrants to enter the US. The charge would be given to the boat captain, who paid in full for each passenger they carried.

The money went into an “immigration fund”, which was federal property. The previously appointed, “Commissioner of Immigration” had discretion over this fund.

He could use it as he saw fit to cover any expenses related to immigration.

Along with charging immigrants to enter the states, this law set forth another set of restrictions. Not only did you have to be able to afford the 50 cent tax, but you had to be deemed not a “convict, lunatic, idiot, or person unable to take care of himself or herself without becoming a public charge”.

If you were deemed unfit, you were put right back on a boat. And no, your tax was not returned to you, either.

1882: The Chinese Exclusion Act

This is the first time we see a racial reference (other than just “white”) in immigration law. And it’s not the last. There were multiple pieces of legislation that excluded the Chinese for the next twenty or so years.

This law, in particular, allows Chinese immigrants to only stay in the US for ten years and only as laborers. If you were Chinese and living in the US previous to this legislation, you could stay.

Further legislation down the line required the Chinese to register with the government and carry papers with them.

1921: The Emergency Quota Act

In 1921, the US began to feel a little bit stressed about how much of a melting pot the country was becoming. So, they created this act, which limited nationalities coming into the states.

There were only so many immigrants of each nationality allowed into the country per year. If you came on a boat and were one over the limit, you weren’t allowed in.

We see other legislation like this in the 1924 National Origins Quota Act, which does pretty much the same thing but adjusted for a higher population.

1942: The Bracero Agreement and Magnuson Act

The Bracero Agreement looked a lot like what the Chinese Exclusion Act was at first. It allowed Mexican citizens into the states, but only as laborers.

Finally, this is the year that the Chinese Exclusion Laws were repealed with the Magnuson Act. Chinese immigrants were now allowed to become citizens.

Post War Immigration Acts

Between the years of 1940 and 1970 (even as late as 1980) we see a lot of legislation about allowing refugees in. If you were from a war-torn country, you could come to America for refuge. But you couldn’t be a citizen – not for a long time.

Legislation in the 1990s

There was a lot of similar legislation in the ’90s, which didn’t so much control the type of people who could immigrate but their so-called character. If you had a history of drug use or violent crime, you could no longer come to America.

Not only do we see exclusionary acts in this decade, but we start to tighten up on removal as well. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act is one such law.

It increases border control and decreases benefits immigrants are allowed to access.

2001: The Patriot Act

After 9/11, things began to get a lot more uncomfortable for immigrants. The anti-US sentiment of the 9/11 terrorists sparked more exclusionary laws.

It also made the patriot act, which set the stage for the immigration laws we have today.

A year later we see the Homeland Security Act, which creates ICE and has a hand in establishing things like stricter TSA regulations.

2005: The Real ID Act

This law was part of President Bush’s Anti-Mexican sentiment. It doesn’t state that in the writing, but it makes sense in context.

This act requires that someone must have “official” ID before they can access something like a drivers license. If they don’t, they can be deported on that charge alone.

In the year after that, we see the Secure Fence Act, which gave money to build a stronger border wall with Mexico. The wall was another Bush project, which wasn’t necessarily that successful.

There’s a rather funny video of the former president talking about his wall while you see someone climbing over it in the background.

The Obama Era

Things got a little bit better for immigrants under Obama, but not that much. Obama is best known for his Dreamers act, which gives citizenship to children brought to the US without a choice – like if they’re born to illegal immigrants or brought with their parents over the border.

Government and immigration was a big part of the 2016 election cycle’s narrative. Some things have changed post-Obama, but not as many as you’d think.

Immigration Laws in the US, Then and Now

Looking over history, it’s obvious that the US has always been exclusionary when it comes to immigration.

The immigration laws in the US’s early days were less specific than they are now – but they hold the same sentiment true. White people of good background will have an easier time becoming citizens than any other nationality.

Feeling a little down after reading this history? Cheer yourself up with this piece of 7 wacky laws that are actually on the US books.