U.S. Immigration Policy 1790-2010

1894 - Immigration League founded in Boston by three Harvard College graduates to curb immigration, it thus spreads to many other U.S. cities.

1910 Angel Island Immigration Station - Between 1910 & 1940, hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Asia pass through the station in the San Francisco Bay.

1921 Emergency Quota Act - The measure limits the numbers of immigrants who can come to the United States to 3% of the number of people from that country living in the U.S. in 1910.

1924 Immigration Act - The measure sets national origin quotas limiting the number of new immigrants, establishing percentages based on existing census figures. Critics say the law is aimed at Southern and Eastern Europeans, East Asians and Asian Indians.

1940- Alien Registration Act - This act requires all non-citizen Adult residents to register with the government.

1942 Bracero Program Between 1942 and 1964, more than 4.5 million Mexican nationals sign contracts to work on U.S. farms under a program of negotiated by U.S. and Mexican governments.

1943 Chinese Exclusion Act repealed. Congress repeals exclusionary provisions aimed at Chinese immigrants and establishes a quota of a token 105 visas per year.

1945 War Brides Act - the measure allows spouses and adopted children of U.S. military personel to enter country following World War 2.

1948 Albright comes to U.S. - Madeleine Albright who served as U.S. Secretary of State from 1977-2001, was born Marie Jana Koledova in Prague, Czechoslovakia. When she was 11 her family came to the U.S. fleeing the Communist takeover.

1950 U.S. population hits 152 million.

1964 Bracero Program ends.

1965 Immigration and Nationality Act 1965 - President Lyndon Johnson signs a measure to abolish the national origin quotas that had been in place since 1924. An annual limitation of 300,000 visas is established for immigrants.