Enacted by U.S. Congress on March 26, 1790

Excerpt reprinted from U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Laws and Issues: A Documentary History

Congress passes a law that sets the tone for naturalization laws for over a century

"…any alien, being a free white person … may be admitted to become a citizen…."

Soon after the Constitution was adopted as the basic law of the newly organized United States, Congress passed a law governing the question of how immigrants could become voting citizens with the same rights as people born in the country, a process called naturalization. It was an important issue in one of the first countries ruled by democracy, the will of the citizens as expressed through voting.

The issue of naturalization had not been a problem when the states had been colonies of England. People living in the English colonies had no voice...