President Donald Trump’s ban on migrants from 7 countries has led to international outrage and protests across the US.
Protests against the ban
Although a court order has successfully put the ban on hold temporarily, many are still worried by the new presidents immigration policies.
Is this the first time a ban has been placed on migration by the US? No.
Here are six occasions when laws have been passed to restrict some people from entering the country:
1. Exclusion of the Chinese
On May 6, 1882, President Chester A. Arthur signed the Chinese Exclusion Act. The act banned “skilled and unskilled labourers and Chinese employed in mining” from entering the US for 10 years.
The law was signed at a time when the US was struggling with high unemployment. They therefore thought it wise to reduce the number of Chinese to save jobs for themselves.
The law also affected the Chinese who were already in the US. They were forced to obtain certificates in order to re-enter if they left the country and they were banned from securing citizenship.
It expired in 1892 and in 1943 with the Magnuson Act, Chinese already residing in the country to become naturalised citizens, but which maintained the ban on property and business ownership. This came at a time when China was a US ally during World War II.
2. Jewish refugees during World War II
This was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. After World War II, the large number of refugees led to fears that refugees posed a serious threat to US national security.
The country limited the number of German Jews who could be admitted into the US to 26,000 annually.
In June 1939, the US turned away the St Louis ocean liner, which was carrying 937 passengers, almost all of whom are thought to have been Jewish. The ship was forced to return.
READ ALSO: Canada ready to help people affected by Trump’s ban
3. Anarchists banned
On March 3, 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Anarchist Exclusion Act which banned anarchists and others deemed to be political extremists from entering the US.
This was because in 1901, President William McKinley had been fatally shot by Leon Czolgosz, an American anarchist who was the son of Polish immigrants.
The act also banned three other classes of people who would be banned from entering the US; those with epilepsy, beggars and importers of prostitutes.
4. Communists banned
On August 23, 1950, an act was passed by Congress, and it was rejected by President Harry Truman. It was called the Internal Security Act of 1950.
This act made it possible to deport any immigrants believed to be members of the Communist Party.
Members of communist organisations, which were required to register, were also not allowed to become citizens.
The president opposed the law, stating that it was a mockery of the Bill of Rights. Eventually, some sections of the act were ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1993. But some parts of the act still stand.
5. Iranians
On April 7, 1980, President Jimmy Carter banned Iranians from entering the US. This was following the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis.
During the crisis, the US embassy in Tehran was stormed and 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days.
President Carter cut diplomatic relations with Iran and imposed sanctions banning Iranians from entering the country.
READ ALSO: How Trump’s immigration ban affected one of his supporters
6. Ban on HIV positive persons
In 1987, under President Ronald Reagan, the US Public Health Service added Aids to the list of “dangerous and contagious” diseases.
Thereafter, the US banned HIV positive persons from arriving in the US. In 2009, Barack Obama lifted the ban, completing a process begun by President George W Bush.
Watch a video of Trump speaking about the ban on 7 Muslim countries:
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