(Im)migration Movements & the Law

The Center for Comparative Immigration Studies CCIS University of California, San Diego

The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. The law excluded merchants, teachers, students, travelers, and diplomats. The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first and only major U.S. law ever implemented to prevent all members of a specific national group from immigrating to the United States.

The Immigration Act of 1924, or Johnson–Reed Act, including the Asian Exclusion Act and National Origins Act, was a United States federal law that prevented immigration from Asia and set quotas on the number of immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe. It also authorized the creation of the country's first formal border control service, the U.S. Border Patrol, and established a "consular control system" that allowed entry only to those who first obtained a visa from a U.S. consulate abroad.

The Page Act of 1875 was the first restrictive federal immigration law in the United States, which effectively prohibited the entry of Chinese women, marking the end of open borders. Seven years later, the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act banned immigration by Chinese men as well.

The United States Immigration Commission was a bipartisan special committee formed in February 1907 by the United States Congress, President of the United States and Speaker of the House of Representatives, to study the origins and consequences of recent immigration to the United States. This was in response to increasing political concerns about the effects of immigration in the United States and its brief was to report on the social, economic and moral state of the nation. During its time in action the Commission employed a staff of more than 300 people for over 3 years, spent better than a million dollars and accumulated mass data.

The Biden administration formally ended the Trump-era policy of returning asylum seekers to Mexico until their court dates in the United States, according to a memo issued by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

The Senate isn’t likely to consider the bill, but it signals a key Democratic priority ahead of the presidential election.

Corporations and industry groups are mobilizing along with civil and immigrant rights organizations, educational institutions, and religious groups to lobby Congress to make permanent the Obama-era program that protects nearly 650,000 people brought to the U.S. as children.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) criticized President Biden’s administration on Tuesday for opening a migrant facility for children.“This is not okay, never has been okay, never will be okay …

A group of House Democrats, led by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) wrote to President Biden on Friday calling for him to formally raise the refugee cap to 62,500 after he has delayed the increase for wee…

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) on Tuesday reintroduced legislation seeking to repeal an 18th-century law that was used as justification for the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and, …

There are no more political or moral excuses for failing to act. Protect the Dreamers and do it now.

A letter to the UN by four congresswomen renews hope that abuse of detained immigrants will finally be addressed.

A bipartisan pair of U.S. senators on Tuesday introduced a bill to expedite refugee applications from Uighurs, matching an effort in the U.S. House of Representatives to assist members of the largely Muslim ethnic group that advocates say face persecution in China.

The fate of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program has ping ponged between all three branches of government. But with the Supreme Court poised to decide DACA's future in spring 2020, Congress may finally be forced to act to resolve the status of DREAMers after nearly two decades of considering various DREAM Act bills. Could this break the long stalemate Congress has had on passing substantive immigration legislation, and pave the way for other actions?

WASHINGTON – After the Supreme Court ruled that the Trump Administration acted illegally in its attempt to eliminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program which protects approximately 10,000 Dreamers in the Central Valley, Representative Josh Harder (CA-10) asked United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to clarify its plans for the future of the program and abandon efforts to sidestep the Supreme Court Ruling.

Summary of H.R.2214 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): NO BAN Act

House report on DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS BILL, 2021. This report is by the Appropriations

history.state.gov 3.0 shell

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) was enacted in 1952. The INA collected many provisions and reorganized the structure of immigration law. The INA has been amended many times over the years

By statute, the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman (CIS Ombudsman) submits an Annual Report to Congress by June 30 of each year. Our Annual Report must provide a summary of the most pervasive and serious problems encountered by individuals and employers applying for immigration benefits with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The Annual Report also reviews past recommendations to improve USCIS programs and services.

The Office of Legislative Affairs (OLA) supports

Summary of S.874 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): Dream Act of 2019

Summary of S.1358 - 117th Congress (2021-2022): Bipartisan Border Solutions Act of 2021

In this letter to the U.S House of Representatives, the ACLU led over 200 civil rights and civil liberties, immigrants’ rights, human rights and community-based organizations in urging Members of

Section 309 of the United States’ Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. § 1409) confers citizenship on children of unmarried U.S. citizen fathers and noncitizen mothers born outside the U.S. only if they meet certain requirements, including their father’s guarantee of financial support. Country: United States Law status: Discriminatory law in force Law Type: Citizenship Sex discrimination in […]

The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected President Donald Trump’s effort to end legal protections for 650,000 young immigrants, a stunning rebuke to the president in the midst of his reelection campaign.The outcome seems certain to elevate the issue in Trump's campaign, given the anti-immigrant rhetoric of his first presidential run in 2016 and immigration restrictions his administration has imposed since then.