Rights For All People

Teachers at Bruce Randolph Elementary School go through the immigration timeline with RAP leaders and learn about the common threads in root causes of immigration and the exclusion and xenophobia that new arrivals have been met with throughout the ages.  Call 303-893-3500 to request a timeline presentation for your group or classroom! 

Immigration Timeline:

1492: COLUMBUS LANDS IN THE AMERICAS

1790: NATURALIZATION ACT: Only “free white” persons are eligible to become US Citizens

1848: MEXICAN AMERICAN WAR: Mexico cedes parts of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California, and Colorado to the United States.

1866: CIVIL RIGHTS ACT: Grants citizenship to those born in the Unites States, except Native Americans

1880’s: Irish and Italian immigrants suffer discrimination

1882-1943: CHINESE EXCLUSION ACT: Denies citizenship to Chinese immigrants and bars their entry to the U.S.

1907: GENTLEMEN’S AGREEMENT: Forbids entry of Korean and Japanese laborers to the US

1917: All Asian immigration to the US is banned.

1918: PASSPORT ACT: Prevents arrival and departure to and from the US without documentation.

1921: QUOTA ACT: Establishes “national origins quota system” that favors European immigration.

1924: IMMIGRATION ACT: Establishes quota act that more heavily favors Northern and Western European immigration.

1929: US BORDER PATROL CREATED.

1942-1964: BRACERO PROGRAM: Millions of guest laborers from Mexico were brought to the US to fill labor shortages created by World War II. Many of these workers are still fighting for wages that are owed to them from this time.

1952: MCWARREN WALTER ACT: Eliminates racial barriers to citizenship and tightens immigration quotas.

1954: OPERATION WETBACK: More than 1 million Mexicans are deported.

1965: IMMIGRATION ACT: Eliminates race, religion, and nationality quotas for admission to the U.S. leads to increased immigration from Latin America and Asia.

1986: THE IMMIGRATION REFORM AND CONTROL ACT: Gives amnesty to approx. 3million undocumented immigrants. Makes it illegal for employers to hire undocumented workers.

1996: THE ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION REFORM AND IMMIGRATION RESPONSIBILITY ACT & ANTI-TERRORISM AND EFFECTIVE DEATHPENALTY ACT: Allows deportation of immigrants for minor crimes. Monetary and medical assistance ends for most immigrants. Increases jailing of non-violent and non-criminal immigrants.

2001: THE PATRIOT ACT: Gives the federal government the power to detain suspected “terrorists” for unspecified amounts of time without legal representation.

2003: Department of Homeland Security takes over responsibility for immigration enforcement and security. The INS becomes ICE.