 Immigration history can be viewed in 4 eras, 1.Colonial Period2.Midnineteenth century 3.Turn of the 20 th 4.Post 1965  The settling of America began with an idea. The idea was that people can join together and agree to govern themselves by making laws for the common good. With that idea in mind, 102 English colonists set sail in 1620 on the Mayflower. This is considered to be the start of European migration.  In 1638 the Swedes began their migration to America. They were an organized group of colonizers sent by the Swedish Government to establish a colony in Delaware. In 1655, the colony was lost to the Dutch.  During the colonial era most of the immigrants to the U.S. came from Northern Europe. Their numbers declined during the 1770s, but picked up during the mid 1800s. New arrivals came from several countries, but mostly from Germany and Ireland where crop failures caused many to leave their homelands. Other groups also arrived from the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, the Scandinavian countries, and Eastern Europe

 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 United States.  : 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: 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".  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.  1986 Act : Focused on curtailing illegal US immigration. It legalized hundred of thousands of illegal immigrants. The 1986 Immigration Act is commonly know as the 1986 Immigration Amnesty. It also introduced the employer sanctions program which fines employers for hiring illegal workers. It also passed tough laws to prevent bogus marriage fraud.  USA Patriot Act 2001: Uniting and Strengthening America by providing appropriate tools required to intercept and obstruct terrorism.

 Most legal immigrants were male but in the 1990s women accounted for just over half of all legal immigrants, indicating a shift away from male dominated immigration of the past.  Contemporary immigrants tend to be younger then the native population of the US with people between ages of 15 and 34.  Immigrants are also more likely to be married now and less to be divorced then native born Americans of the same age.

 Republican views on Immigration ◦ The Republican Party supports reforming the immigration system to ensure that it is legal, safe, orderly and humane. It also supports measures to ensure that the immigration system is structured to address the needs of national security. They often believe that many foreigners want to "invade" the US rather than become part of it. ◦ Democratic views on Immigration  Democrats would like to see everyone on earth have their chance at life, liberty and the pursuit of freedom. Although Americans do come first in terms of the legal protections and rights that Democrats fight for, their views extend to people beyond the American borders as well. They want to give illegal immigrants a chance to prove their worth and become citizens in the land of the free.