Unit
- Early immigration era: The United States had open borders through most of the 19th century. The first major federal law, the Page Act of 1875, restricted entry for convicts and prostitutes. This established the principle that Congress holds plenary power over immigration.
- Chinese Exclusion Act (1882): This law banned Chinese laborers from entering the U.S. and marked the first race-based restriction. It set a precedent for excluding groups based on national origin, a theme that persisted in later legislation.
- National Origins Quota System (1921-1924): The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 and the Immigration Act of 1924 created numerical caps based on national origin, heavily favoring Western European countries. This framework remained in place until 1965.
- Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (INA): The INA codified immigration law into a single comprehensive statute. It eliminated racial bars to naturalization and established the preference system for family and employment-based immigration.
- Hart-Celler Act of 1965: This reform abolished national origins quotas and replaced them with a preference system emphasizing family reunification and skilled labor. It led to dramatic demographic shifts in immigration patterns.
- Refugee Act of 1980: This law adopted the United Nations definition of refugee and created a formal asylum process. It separated refugee admission from the general immigration system and set annual ceilings.
- Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986: IRCA provided a path to legalization for undocumented immigrants who had been in the U.S. since 1982. It also introduced employer sanctions for knowingly hiring unauthorized workers.
- Post-9/11 era: The USA PATRIOT Act and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in 2003 shifted immigration enforcement to a security-focused paradigm. The REAL ID Act of 2005 tightened document requirements for visas and asylum.
- Executive action era (2012-2021): DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents of Americans) demonstrated the use of prosecutorial discretion. These programs faced legal challenges and remain subject to policy changes.
- Modern legislative trends: Recent proposals focus on border security, merit-based systems, and addressing undocumented populations. Courts increasingly review executive actions, creating a dynamic landscape for practitioners.
- Immigration Act of 1990: This major amendment to the INA increased overall immigration caps and created the diversity visa lottery program, which allocates 55,000 visas annually to applicants from countries with historically low immigration rates. It also expanded employment-based visas and established temporary protected status (TPS) for nationals of designated countries facing conflict or disaster.
- Secure Fence Act of 2006: This law authorized the construction of hundreds of miles of physical barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border and expanded the use of surveillance technology. It marked a shift toward large-scale infrastructure investments in border enforcement, reinforcing the security-focused approach adopted after 9/11.
- Trump-era policies (2017-2021): The presidential administration implemented travel bans affecting several Muslim-majority countries, ended DACA for new applicants, and instituted the "Remain in Mexico" policy (MPP) requiring asylum seekers to wait in Mexico. These actions triggered extensive litigation and reshaped enforcement priorities until revised by subsequent executive orders.
Governance Requirement
Requirement: Plenary Power Doctrine
The U.S. Constitution gives Congress exclusive authority over immigration policy. The Supreme Court has consistently held that federal immigration laws preempt state laws and that the political branches have broad discretion in admission and removal decisions. Practitioners must understand that judicial review of immigration actions is limited by this doctrine, except where constitutional rights are at stake.
Quick Revision
- U.S. immigration law evolved from open borders to quota systems to a preference-based framework.
- The INA of 1952 remains the foundational statute, amended multiple times.
- The Hart-Celler Act shifted emphasis to family reunification and skilled labor.
- Post-9/11 reforms centralized enforcement under DHS and heightened security requirements.
- Executive actions like DACA show the role of prosecutorial discretion.
- Congress holds plenary power over immigration, limiting judicial review.