Policies Affecting Central and South Americans
1965 | Immigration and Naturalization Act limited annual Western Hemisphere immigration |
1976 | Amendment to 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act limited annual immigration for each separate nation in the Western Hemisphere |
1978 | Congress raised Western Hemisphere annual limit slightly |
1979 | 20,000 Nicaraguans afforded relief from deportation and viewed as political refugees |
1980 | Refugee Act |
1984 | Supreme Court held that to avoid deportation an alien must show "clear probability" that he or she would fact torture, death, or other severe persecution upon returning home |
1986 | Immigration Reform and Control Act |
1987 | Amnesty program went into effect
Supreme Court ruled in INS v. Cardoza-Fonesca that an alien who demonstrated "well founded fear" of persecution upon return to his or her homeland could be eligible for asylum in the United States |
1990 | Immigration Act
New hearings were to be set for 150,000 illegal aliens from Guatemala and El Salvador who were denied political asylum from 1980 to 1990 [Back]
|