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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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