Immigration in the U.S. by Yirui Z

1607-1776 European Settlers

yiruirei — 2025-09-08 16:37:14 UTC

European colonists, mainly British, Dutch, German, and French, settle in North America. Religious refugees lead persecution in Europe.

1619 African Americans

yiruirei — 2025-09-08 16:41:44 UTC

The first enslaved Africans were brought to James Town, Virginia. The first slave owners were Governor George Yeardley and Captain William Tucker.

1845-1852 Irish

yiruirei — 2025-09-08 16:45:39 UTC

A large number of Irish people came to the U.S. for better opportunities because of the Potato Famine in Ireland. Ireland was also under British rule at the time, causing many Irish to try and escape discrimination. Once the refugee Irish got to America, it wasn't any better, they were still discriminated against and businesses put signs up saying "Irish need not apply."

1848 German

yiruirei — 2025-09-08 16:47:25 UTC

Germans fled persecution as their government was trying to become more democratic. Those who supported democracy were threatened with arrest.

1848-1855 Chinese

yiruirei — 2025-09-08 16:49:42 UTC

The Chinese arrived in America for the Gold Rush. Gold had been discovered in California leading a large amount of people to flock to America. While they were here the built railroads though they were paid less money for their labor and also experienced discrimination.

1862 Homestead Act

yiruirei — 2025-09-08 16:52:51 UTC

The Homestead Act encouraged European immigration by providing farming land for free in the west. They were contracted to live in the west for 5 years and farm the land. Ironically they had to take out loans to be able to farm with equipment, which they ultimately were unable to pay back probably cause the land wasn't fertile enough to produce enough food to sell.

1882 Chinese Exclusion Act

yiruirei — 2025-09-08 16:56:14 UTC

It was the first major federal law that restricted immigration by race and nationality. One of the reasons why the Chinese were discriminated against was because they practiced Buddhism. They perceived Buddhism to be devilish.

1892-1910 Ellis Island

yiruirei — 2025-09-08 17:01:25 UTC

Ellis Island opened in New York harbor, started processing immigrants and processed 12 million immigrants by 1954. They were Italian, Greek, and Polish. They were fleeing poverty and political unrest in their home countries. The largest group of people who came through Ellis Island were Russian-Jews because of persecution.

1917-1924 Quota Acts

yiruirei — 2025-09-08 17:04:20 UTC

This is considered the restriction era because many different types of immigrants were limited. The Chinese continued to be excluded entirely from immigration.

1980 The Refugee Act

yiruirei — 2025-09-08 17:08:00 UTC

The Refugee Act helped to resettle refugees and began the process of asylum.

1996 Stricter Enforcement Laws

yiruirei — 2025-09-08 17:11:25 UTC

There was an increase in deportations due to a new law. These laws were made as a response to "tough on crime" era, deporting anyone who broke the law.

2001 Patriot Act

yiruirei — 2025-09-08 17:14:31 UTC

This act expanded immigration enforcement after the September 11 attacks. The immigration enforcement were specifically strict on Middle Eastern immigrants.

2012 Obama Creates DACA

yiruirei — 2025-09-08 17:16:58 UTC

DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) protected undocumented youth from being deported.

2017-2021 THE WALL

yiruirei — 2025-09-08 17:19:17 UTC

The Trump Administration imposes travel bans and limits asylum. Eventually President Biden rolled back those travel bans.