Immigration 101 (cont'd)

Ok, I found a great site, Rapid Immigration, with everything you'd want to know about immigration. I think it's very interesting how our rules and social attitudes evolved. Basically, the US limits immigration to 700,000 per year. And there's quotas from different countries so that one country doesn't have all the slots. If there weren't the limit, millions would immigrate here and the country would have to absorb them all. If that were the case, there wouldn't be enough jobs for everyone and there would most likely be rampant poverty which leads to more crime, etc. Sounds like a good reason to me to enforce laws against illegal immigration. Plus, I thought everyone else in the world hated America?

Significant Historic Dates Affecting US immigration
Naturalization Act of 1790 - Stipulated that "any alien, being a free white person, may be admitted to become a citizen of the United States"
1875 - Supreme Court declared that regulation of US immigration is the responsibility of the Federal Government.
1882 The Chinese Exclusion Act - prohibited certain laborers from immigrating to the United States.
1885 and 1887 - Alien Contract Labor laws which prohibited certain laborers from immigrating to the United States.
1891 - The Federal Government assumed the task of inspecting, admitting, rejecting, and processing all immigrants seeking admission to the U.S.
1892 - On January 2, a new Federal US immigration station opened on Ellis Island in New York Harbor.
1903 - This Act restated the 1891 provisions concerning land borders and called for rules covering entry as well as inspection of aliens crossing the Mexican border.
1907 The US immigration Act of 1907 - reorganized the states bordering Mexico (Arizona, New Mexico and a large part of Texas) into Mexican Border District to stem the flow of immigrants into the U.S.
1917 - 1924 - A series of laws were enacted to further limit the number of new immigrants. These laws established the quota system and imposed passport requirements. They expanded the categories of excludable aliens and banned all Asians except Japanese.
1924 Act - Reduced the number of US immigration visas and allocated them on the basis of national origin.
1940 The Alien Registration Act - required all aliens (non-U.S. citizens) within the United States to register with the Government and receive an Alien Registration Receipt Card (the predecessor of the "green card").
1950 Passage of the Internal Security Act - which rendered the Alien Registration Receipt Card even more valuable. Immigrants with legal status had their cards replaced with what generally became known as the "green card" (Form I-151).
1952 Act - Established the modern day US immigration system. It created a quota system which imposes limits on a per-country basis. It also established the preference system that gave priority to family members and people with special skills.
1968 Act - Eliminated US immigration discrimination based on race, place of birth, sex and residence. It also officially abolished restrictions on Oriental US immigration.
1976 Act - Eliminated preferential treatment for residents of the Western Hemisphere.
1980 Act - Established a general policy governing the admission of refugees.
1986 Act - Focused on curtailing illegal US immigration. It legalized hundred of thousands of illegal immigrants. It also introduced the employer sanctions program which fines employers for hiring illegal workers. It also passed tough laws to prevent bogus marriage fraud.
1990 Act - Established an annual limit for certain categories of immigrants. It was aimed at helping U.S. businesses attract skilled foreign workers; thus, it expanded the business class categories to favor persons who can make educational, professional or financial contributions. It created the Immigrant Investor Program.
USA Patriot Act 2001 - Uniting and Strengthening America by providing appropriate tools required to intercept and obstruct terrorism
Creation of the USCIS 2003 - As of March 1, 2003, the US immigration and Naturalization Service becomes part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The department’s new U.S. Citizenship and US immigration Services (USCIS) function is to handle US immigration services and benefits, including citizenship, applications for permanent residence, non-immigrant applications, asylum, and refugee services. US immigration enforcement functions are now under the Department's Border and Transportation Security Directorate, known as the Bureau of US immigration and Customs Enforcement (BICE)