ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the history of immigration to the United States, showing how different backgrounds, experiences, and legislation shape the immigrant population in the United States, and documenting Indian, Filipino, and Vietnamese immigration trends. Chinese, Japanese, and Indians made up the Asian population in the United States during the mid- to late 1880s. Relatively large numbers of Chinese began immigrating in the early to mid-1880s to cover labor shortages and work on the railroads. The Japanese dominated Asian immigration from the late 1880s to 1917 and were also recruited for labor on the farms of Hawaii and California. The Refugee Act of 1980, the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, and the Immigration Act of 1990 were enacted to process refugees more efficiently, curb illegal immigration, and revamp preference categories, respectively. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 was designed to control illegal immigration through employer sanctions and increased enforcement.
