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Web Editor |
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Vernellia R. Randall
Professor of Law
The University of Dayton |
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Selected Laws and Governmental Policies Affecting
Hispanic / Latino(a) Americans
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Policies
Affecting Cuban Americans
EARLY IMMIGRATION PERIOD
| 1899 |
Spanish-Cuban-American War-U.S. intervention ended Spanish rule of
Cuba; U.S. administration of island |
| 1932 |
Good neighbor Policy of Roosevelt administration |
FIRST WAVE OF REFUGEES
| 1961 |
Diplomatic relations broken between the United States and
Cuba |
1961
-1975 |
U.S. Cuban Refugee Program |
| 1962 |
Commercial air flights between the United States and Cuba ended,
as did open immigration |
SECOND WAVE OF REFUGEES
| 1965 |
President Lyndon B. johnson signed a "memorandum of
understanding" paving the way for airlift |
1965
-1973 |
Cuban refugee airlift program sponsored by U.S. government |
| 1966 |
Cuban Refugee Readjustment Act |
THIRD WAVE OF REFUGEES
| 1980 |
Mariel boatlift; temporary refugee centers created; special
refugee status for Cubans ended when boatlift ended
Refugee Act of 1980 |
| 1984 |
U.S. immigration and Naturalization Sercide ruled mariel
"entrants" eligible to apply for permanent resident
status under 1966 Cuban Refugee Readjustment Act [Back] |
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] |
Policies
Affecting Puerto Ricans on the Mainland
| 1898 |
Treaty of Paris - Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the United States as
part of the agreement ending the Spanish-American War |
| 1900 |
Foraker Act made Puerto Rico an unincorporated territory of the
United States cans eligible for the draft; allowed both houses of
the Puerto Rican legislature to be chosen through popular
election, but the governor and other top-ranking officials were
still appointed |
| 1932 |
Puerto Rican Reconstruction Administration |
| 1947 |
Jones Act amended-popular election of Puerto Rican governor |
| 1952 |
Puerto Rico established as a U.S. commonwealth (free associated
state) |
| 1965 |
Voting Rights Act |
| 1968 |
Bilingual Education Act (Amendment to title I of the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965) [Back] |
Policies
Affecting Mexican Americans
FIRST PHASE: ACCOMMODATION TO MINORITY
STATUS
| 1845 |
United States annexed Texas, which had declared itself independent
of Mexico in 1836 |
| 1848 |
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo |
| 1853 |
Gadsden Purchase-additional land bought from Mexico |
| 1924 |
U.S. Border patrol established |
| 1929-1935 |
major effort at enforcement of 1924 restrictions, thousands of
Mexican Americans and their families repatriated, most without
court hearings |
| 1942 |
Bracero program |
SECOND PHASE: THE ORIGINS OF CHALLENGE
| 1944 |
War Labor Board ended discriminatory wage rates, siding with the
labor union (CIO) |
| 1945 |
Mendez et al. v. School District of Orange County et al. -
federal court ruled segregation of Mexican Americans in public
schools illegal |
| 1948 |
Delgado v. The Bastrup Independent School District -
federal court ruled segregation of Mexican Americans in public
school illegal |
| l953 |
Supreme Court ruled in Pete Hernandez case that the
Fourteenth Amendment applied not just to African Americans but to
Mexican Americans and others as well |
| 1954 |
"Operation Wetback" - U.S. Immigration nd Naturalization
Service launched massive program to deport illegal Mexican
immigrants |
| 1964 |
Bracero program expired by statute |
| 1965 |
Immigration and Naturalization Act - first U.S. limitation on the
annual number of Western Hemisphere immigrants |
THIRD PHASE: SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ACTION
| 1967 |
Bilingual Education Act |
| 1968 |
Elementary and Secondary Education Act |
| 1970 |
Cisneros v. Corpus Christi Independent School District -
court ruled de jure segregation existed and dual school system
had to be desegregated |
| 1974 |
Ethnic Heritage Act
Supreme Court decision in Lau v. Nichols affirmed legal
right to education for children with English language problems |
| 1975 |
Amendment to Voting rights Act of 1965-protected "language
groups" |
| 1982 |
Supreme Court upheld lower court decision requiring Texas to
institute bilingual education in case brought by Limited English
Proficiency of Mexican-American Youth |
| 1986 |
Immigration Reform and Control Act-amnesty program, employer
sanctions, guest-worker program |
| 1990 |
Immigration Act-continued family reunification preference category
[Back] |
Policies
Affecting Dominican Americans
| 1965 |
Immigration Act limited |
| 1976 |
Amendment to 1965 Immigration Act limited annual immigration for
each separate nation in the Western Hemisphere |
| 1978 |
Congress raised Western Hemisphere annual limit slightly |
| 1986 |
Immigration Reform and Control Act |
| 1987 |
Amnesty program went into effect [Back] |
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