Difference between revisions of "Timeline of immigrant processing and visa policy in the United States"

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| 1987 || October 21 || Deferred action || Immigration and Naturalization Services || Alan C. Nelson, INS Commissioner announces [[User:Vipul/Family Fairness|Family Fairness]], a deferred action policy for children (and, in rare cases, spouses) of people eligible to legalie per the IRCA, to solve the problem of split-eligibility families.<ref name=aic>{{cite web|url = https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/reagan-bush-family-fairness-chronological-history|title = Reagan-Bush Family Fairness: A Chronological History|date = December 9, 2014|accessdate = February 5, 2017|publisher = American Immigration Council}}</ref>
 
| 1987 || October 21 || Deferred action || Immigration and Naturalization Services || Alan C. Nelson, INS Commissioner announces [[User:Vipul/Family Fairness|Family Fairness]], a deferred action policy for children (and, in rare cases, spouses) of people eligible to legalie per the IRCA, to solve the problem of split-eligibility families.<ref name=aic>{{cite web|url = https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/reagan-bush-family-fairness-chronological-history|title = Reagan-Bush Family Fairness: A Chronological History|date = December 9, 2014|accessdate = February 5, 2017|publisher = American Immigration Council}}</ref>
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| 1988 || July || || United Kingdom || The [[wikipedia:United Kingdom|United Kingdom]] becomes the first country to participate in the newly created [[wikipedia:Visa Waiver Program|Visa Waiver Program]] (VWP).
 
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| 1988 || October 15 || Leadership change || U.S. Department of Justice || [[wikipedia:Dick Thornburgh|Dick Thornburgh]] becomes Attorney General, succeeding scandal-engulfed Edwin Meese.
 
| 1988 || October 15 || Leadership change || U.S. Department of Justice || [[wikipedia:Dick Thornburgh|Dick Thornburgh]] becomes Attorney General, succeeding scandal-engulfed Edwin Meese.

Revision as of 08:17, 29 March 2017

This page provides a timeline of key events related to immigrant processing and visa policy of the United States. It focuses on laws, policies, and programs affecting pathways for authorized entry to the United States and long-term immigrant and non-immigrant statuses. It is complementary to the timeline of immigration enforcement in the United States.

The programs discussed here mostly come under the purview of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations, and the U.S. Department of State agencies such as the Bureau of Consular Affairs. For the most part, it does not deal with programs under the purview of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or the United States Border Patrol. There are some exceptions (such as the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, that is under the purview of ICE).

Full timeline

Year Month and date (if available) Event type Affected agencies (past, and present equivalents) Details
1882 May 6 Legislation (landmark) Executive branch The Chinese Exclusion Act is signed into law by President Chester A. Arthur after passing both chambers of the 47th United States Congress.
1882 August 3 Legislation (landmark) Executive branch The Immigration Act of 1882 is signed into law by President Chester A. Arthur after passing both chambers of the 47th United States Congress. The Act mostly focuses on immigration enforcement but also creates new policies around excludable classes of immigrants.
1921 May 19 Legislation (landmark) Executive branch The Emergency Quota Act, also known as the Emergency Immigration Act of 1921, the Immigration Restriction Act of 1921, the Per Centum Law, and the Johnson Quota Act, is signed into law by President Warren G. Harding after passing both chambers of the 67th United States Congress. It significantly reduces immigration quotas from countries around the world to 3% of the population of the country already present in the United States (this formula would later be called the National Origins Formula).
1924 May 24 Legislation (landmark) Executive branch The Immigration Act of 1924, also called the National Origins Act and the Asian Exclusion Act, is signed into law by President Calvin Coolidge after passing both chambers of the 68th United States Congress. This updates the National Origins Formula to reduce the percentage to 2%.
1952 June 27 Legislation (landmark) Executive branch The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 becomes law after both chambers of the 82nd United States Congress vote to override the veto of President Harry S. Truman. This is the first of two big overhauls of the immigration system (the second being in 1965). Subsequent legislations would often be framed in terms of modifications to this legislation.
1965 October 3 Legislation (landmark) Executive branch The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, also known as the Hart–Celler Act for its co-sponsors, is signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson after passing both chambers of the 89th United States Congress. The Act would go into effect on June 30, 1968. As of 2017, it is the most recent radical overhaul of the immigration system in the United States.
1980 Legislation Executive branch The 96th United States Congress passes the Refugee Act of 1980, standardizing the process of refugee resettlement.
1981 January 20 Leadership change Executive branch Republican politician Ronald Reagan is sworn in as President of the United States.
1982 February 22 Leadership change Immigration and Naturalization Services Alan C. Nelson becomes the Comissioner of the INS, working under President Ronald Reagan.[1]
1983 January 9 Organizational restructuring Executive Office for Immigration Review, Board of Immigration Appeals, Immigration and Naturalization Services The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) is created as part of the U.S. Department of Justice. The EOIR combines two pre-existing functions: the Board of Immigration Appeals (also originally under the DOJ) and the Immigration Judge function (carried out previously by the INS, which was at the time under the DOJ).[2]
1985 February Leadership change U.S. Department of Justice Edwin Meese becomes United States Attorney General.[3][4] The Attorney General heads the U.S. Department of Justice, and prior to the September 11 attacks, the INS was under the Department of Justice.
1986 November 6 Legislation (landmark) Immigration and Naturalization Services; current equivalent: United States Citizenship and Immigration Services The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) is signed into law by President Ronald Reagan, after passing both houses of the 99th United States Congress after three years of legislative back-and-forth. The key sponsores are Alan K. Simpson and Romano L. Mazzoli, so the act is also known as the Simpson–Mazzoli Act. This combines an amnesty for people who have been present in the United States for a while, a restructuring of the H-2 program splitting it into the H-2A (unlimited temporary agricultural workers) and H-2B (other temporary workers), and more resources into enforcement.[5] The Act also includes a provision for what would later become the Visa Waiver Program.[6]
1987 October 21 Deferred action Immigration and Naturalization Services Alan C. Nelson, INS Commissioner announces Family Fairness, a deferred action policy for children (and, in rare cases, spouses) of people eligible to legalie per the IRCA, to solve the problem of split-eligibility families.[7]
1988 July United Kingdom The United Kingdom becomes the first country to participate in the newly created Visa Waiver Program (VWP).
1988 October 15 Leadership change U.S. Department of Justice Dick Thornburgh becomes Attorney General, succeeding scandal-engulfed Edwin Meese.
1989 January 20 Leadership change Executive branch Republican politician and incumbent vice-president George H. W. Bush becomes President of the United States, succeeding Ronald Reagan.
1989 June 16 Leadership change Immigration and Naturalization Services INS Commissioner Alan C. Nelson is fired, amidst clashes with Attorney General Dick Thornburgh who wants to bring the INS more firmly under his own control, as well as accusations against Nelson of mismanagement.[1][8][9]
1990 February 5 Deferred action Immigration and Naturalization Services The Family Fairness policy is extended to spouses of IRCA-eligible people. The extension serves as a bridge to a legislation that is passed as part of the Immigration Act of 1990.[10][11]
1990  ? Landmark legislation Immigration and Naturalization Services The Immigration Act of 1990 is signed into law by President George H. W. Bush. While mostly focused on legal temporary and permanent immigration, some provisions of the Act are relevant to enforcement. In particular, the Family Unity Policy passed as part of the Act supersedes the Family Fairness executive action.[12][13]
1993 January 20 Leadership change Executive branch Democratic politician Bill Clinton becomes President of the United States, after defeating incumbent George H. W. Bush in elections.
1993 March 11 Leadership change U.S. Department of Justice Janet Reno becomes Attorney General.
1993 October 18 Leadership change Immigration and Naturalization Services Doris Meissner becomes INS Commissioner.[14][15]
1996 September 30 Legislation (landmark) Immigration and Naturalization Services Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 is signed into law by President Bill Clinton after passing both chambers of the 104th United States Congress. It includes a number of provisions facilitating various forms of immigration enforcement that would be rolled out over the next two decades.
1997 Legislation Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act
1998 Legislation American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act (ACWIA).
2000 Legislation American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act (AC21).
2000 December 21 Legislation Immigration and Naturalization Services; current equivalent United States Citizenship and Immigration Services The Legal Immigration Family Equity Act is passed. Among other things, the Act allows for the overlooking of unauthorized presence in the United States for people who have been in the queue for permanent residency for a long time. The Act primarily references immigrant processing functions now under USCIS rather than enforcement functions, but also contains some protection from removal proceedings. Specifically, protection from removal proceedings begins after the Form I-485 (green card application) is filed; people who are eligible for legalization in the future through this Act but are still in the queue may be subject to removal proceedings.[16][17][18]
2004 Legislation H-1B Visa Reform Act of 2004 and L-1 Visa Reform Act of 2004
  1. 1.0 1.1 "Alan C. Nelson: Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization Service, February 22, 1982 - June 16, 1989". United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. February 4, 2016. Retrieved October 24, 2016. 
  2. "About the Office". Executive Office for Immigration Review. Retrieved March 18, 2017. 
  3. Leslie Maitland Wiener (February 24, 1985). "SENATE APPROVES MEESE TO BECOME ATTORNEY GENERAL". New York Times. Retrieved March 19, 2017. 
  4. Jackson, Robert L.; John J. Goldman (1989-08-09). "Wallach Found Guilty of Racketeering, Fraud: Meese's Friend, Two Others Convicted in Wedtech Scandal". Los Angeles Times. 
  5. "Public Law 99-603" (PDF). United States Government Publishing Office. November 6, 1986. Retrieved March 15, 2017. 
  6. Bigo, Didier. Foreigners, Refugees Or Minorities?: Rethinking People in the Context of Border Controls and Visas. 
  7. "Reagan-Bush Family Fairness: A Chronological History". American Immigration Council. December 9, 2014. Retrieved February 5, 2017. 
  8. Berke, Richard (March 14, 1989). "WASHINGTON TALK: IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION; Service's Chief Tilts Against an 'Oblique' Attack on His Policies". New York Times. Retrieved October 24, 2016. 
  9. "INS Chief Resigns; Under Fire in Justice Dept. Audit". Associated Press. June 26, 1989. Retrieved October 24, 2016. 
  10. "Interpreter releases: report and analysis of immigration and nationality law" (PDF). February 5, 1990. Retrieved February 22, 2017. 
  11. Howe, Marvine. "New Policy Aids Families of Aliens". New York Times. 
  12. Leiden, Warren. "Highlights of the U.S. Immigration Act of 1990". Fordham International Law Journal. Retrieved September 30, 2014. 
  13. Stone, Stephanie. "1190 Immigration and Nationality Act". U.S. Immigration Legislation Online. U.S. Immigration Legislation Online. Retrieved September 30, 2014. 
  14. "Doris Meissner. Commissioner of Immigration and Naturalization Service, October 18, 1993 - November 18, 2000". United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Retrieved July 5, 2016. 
  15. Ifill, Gwen (June 19, 1993). "President Chooses an Expert To Halt Smuggling of Aliens". New York Times. Retrieved July 5, 2016. 
  16. "Green Card Through the Legal Immigration Family Equity (LIFE) Act". United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. Retrieved February 8, 2016. 
  17. "What Was the 2000 Legal Immigration Family Equity (LIFE) Act?". ProCon.org. Retrieved February 8, 2016. 
  18. "Legal Immigration Family Equity Act" (PDF). United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. December 21, 2000. Retrieved February 9, 2016.