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Policies Affecting Cuban Americans
| 1899 to 1932 | Early Immigration Period |
| 1961 to 1975 | First Wave of Refugees |
| 1965 to 1973 | Second Wave of Refugees |
| 1980 to 1984 | Third Wave of Refugees |
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]
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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]
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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
| 1845 to 1942 | ACCOMMODATION TO MINORITY STATUS |
| 1945 to 1965 | THE ORIGINS OF CHALLENGE |
| 1967 to 1990 | SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ACTION |
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]
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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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