This page provides a chronology to assist the user in contextualizing the documents found on the "U.S. Bishops and Immigration" website. It includes links to related documents found throughout the site.

• 1790:
  • The Naturalization Act of 1790 formally establishes citizenship laws for immigrants according to the newly-adopted Constitution. This law limits naturalized citizenship to "free white persons."
• 1882:
  • The Chinese Exclusion Act, the first major piece of federal legislation restricting immigration, prohibits the immigration and naturalization of Chinese laborers.

• 1892:
  • The Chinese Exclusion Act was originally meant to expire in ten years; the Geary Act passed in 1892 permanently extends the terms of the Exclusion Act and further restricts the rights of Chinese immigrants in America.
• 1906:
  • The Naturalization Act of 1906 creates a "Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization" as a part of the new Department of Labor.
• February 1917:
  • Overriding President Wilson's veto, Congress approves the Immigration Act of 1917, which establishes a literacy test for all immigrants, a victory for restrictionists who had campaigned for the literacy test for over a decade. The U.S. Catholic Bishops and the Vatican protest the terms of the Act and denounce the literacy test. The 1917 Act also establishes an "Asiatic Barred Zone," prohibiting immigration from Asia, including India and the Middle East.
    • "Indignation at the Vatican", The New York Times , February 17, 1914
    • "Denounce Literacy Test, Cardinal Gibbons' Protest," The New York Times, January 25, 1915
• April 6, 1917:
  • The United States officially declares war on Germany, entering World War I on the side of the Allies.
• August 1917:
  • American Catholics leaders meet at The Catholic University in American in Washington, D.C., and establish the National Catholic War Council to coordinate the war effort activities of American Catholics. Father John J. Burke is selected to head the new organization.
• November 11, 1918:
  • The Allied forces sign the Armistice with Germany, ending the fighting of World War I.
• January 1919:
  • The National Catholic War Council is transformed into the National Catholic Welfare Council (later changed to Conference), a collective organization of the American Catholic Bishops dedicated to serving Catholic interests through social action, legislation, education, and publicity.
• February 1919
  • The NCWC issues a "Program for Social Reconstruction," calling for a transformation of American politics, economics, and society.
• 1919:
  • The NCWC creates a Social Action Department with one goal of promoting citizenship through the "Americanization" of Catholic immigrants.
• October 1920:
  • Seattle attorney Dudley G. Wooten writes a letter to NCWC head John J. Burke, suggesting that American immigration procedure was giving Protestant organizations undue influence over arriving immigrants.
    • Letter from Dudley Wooten to John Burke, October 29, 1920
• November 1920-August 1921:
  • Wooten's letter sparks an investigation by the NCWC into immigration issues, leading the foundation of a new Bureau of Immigration within the organization.
• May 1921:
  • The Emergency Quota Act is passed, establishing quotas for immigration from any given country in order to restrict immigration based on nationality. The quotas are based the national origins of Americans recorded in the 1910 census.
    • Emergency Quota Act, May 19, 1921
• May 1924:
  • The Johnson-Reed Immigration Act is passed by Congress, attempting to freeze the relative numbers of various ethnic groups in the U.S. in response to increasing immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe. The NCWC lobbies to prevent the passage of the Act, fearing that it motivated by anti-Catholic prejudice.
    • NCWC Protest to Congress Against 1924 Immigration Bill, January 1924
    • Bruce Mohler, "Letter to House Committee on Immigration and Naturalization," January 7, 1924
    • Johnson-Reed Immigration Act, May 26, 1924
• May 1929:
  • The NCWC continues to oppose the national origins quota system. William Montavon, director of the legal department of the NCWC, publishes an article that questions the prejudiced foundations of the law.
    • William F. Montavon, "Shall the National Origins Law be Enforced?", N.C.W.C. Bulletin, May 1929
• December 7, 1941:
  • The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor prompts the United States to enter the war.
• August 1942:
  • The "Bracero Program" is begun, providing short-term admission to the U.S. for Mexican laborers and migrant workers in order to redress the agricultural labor shortage due to the war. The program continues until 1964.
• December 1943:
  • Congress passes the Magnuson Act, which finally repeals the Chinese Exclusion Act and permits Chinese immigrants to become naturalized citizens. The Act was intended as a gesture of goodwill towards China, which was fighting with the Allies in World War II.
    • Memorandum from Burce Mohler to Michael Ready on the Chinese Exclusion Act, June 29, 1943
• 1945:
  • The Allied forces accept the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany in May. In August, Japan surrenders following the nuclear bombing of two of its cities by American forces, finally ending World War II.
• December 1952:
  • The McCarran-Walter Immigration and Nationality Act is passed, permitting naturalization for any immigrant regardless of race and allowing for drastically increased immigration from Asia. The Act, however, maintains the national origins quota system, and also provides greater power for the government to deport immigrants suspected of Communist sympathies.
    • 1952 Legislation: Documents
• October 1965:
  • President Lyndon Johnson signs into law the Hart-Celler Immigration and Nationality Act, discontinuing the national origins quota system, setting annual limits on total number of visas issued instead. The NCWC supported the bill, which provided for unlimited visas for family members of U.S. residents.
• November 1986:
  • The Immigration Reform and Control Act is signed into law by President Roland Reagan. The Act is in part a response to a resolution adopted by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops calling for legislation that would provide a path to legalization for undocumented/illegal immigrants.
    • U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, "Resolution on Immigration Reform," 1985
• 1996:
  • Congress passes the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, which attempts to crack down on the rising tide of illegal immigration. The law is met with controversy, especially over the broader deportation powers granted to the government by the Act.
• 2003:
  • The American and Mexican bishops issue a joint pastoral letter critiquing U.S. immigration law and calling for its reform.
• 2005:
  • The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops launches the Justice for Immigrants Campaign to educate the public about the Church's teachings on immigration and to lobby legislative reforms of immigration law based on those teachings.
• January 2007:
  • Gerald R. Barnes, Bishops of San Bernardino, California, and the chairman of the USCCB's Committee on Migration, issues a resolution supporting comprehensive immigration reform, and insisting that the problem of illegal immigration requires a just and compassionate response to a humanitarian problem.
    • U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Committee on Migration, "Statement of Most. Rev. Gerald R. Barnes," January 25, 2007