Immigration reform has been in the news for many years, ever since Arizona passed SB1070 and Alabama passed HB56. In an effort to limit the implementation of these laws, the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Department of Education have filed complaints against both states. Additionally, there are over “865 immigrant and refugee-related bills and resolutions in 45 state legislatures and the District of Columbia during the first quarter of 2012” (Immigration-Related Laws of 2012, 2012), with the exception of five states that were not in session at the time of the report. Immigration laws in the United States began with the passage of the Naturalization Act of 1790, which limited entry into the United States to "free white persons of good character residing in the United States for a term of two years" (as cited in Kunnan, 2009, p.38). However, a 1795 amendment would lengthen the required time to five years. While the Immigration Act of 1924 replaced race with nationality, it limited new entries to “150,000 persons, [and] established the concept of “citizenship ineligibility,” which applied to all Asians, justifying their exclusion from the immigration, and excluded all non-whites. , and non-Europeans” (as cited in Ngai, 1999, pp. 67-72). As a result, the Immigration and Nationality Act 1952 continued to restrict immigration, introduced an English language and history requirement, and created the Immigration and Naturalization Service. . Furthermore, it “allowed the deportation of immigrants or naturalized citizens engaged in subversive activities; banned those suspected of subversive activities from entering the country; and restrictive...... middle of paper......ent undermine public safety? The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, 641(1), 79-98. doi:10.1177/0002716211431818Kunnan, A. J. (2009). Politics and legislation in citizenship tests in the United States. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 29, 37-48. doi:10.1017/S0267190509090047 Newton, L., & Adams, B. E. (2009). State immigration policies: innovation, cooperation or conflict? Publius, 39(3), 408-431. doi:10.1093/publius/pjp005Newton, L., & Adams, B. E. (2009). State immigration policies: innovation, cooperation or conflict? Publius, 39(3), 408-431. doi:10.1093/publius/pjp005Ngai, M. M. (1999). The architecture of race in American immigration law: A reexamination of the immigration law of 1924. The Journal of American History, 86(1), 67-92. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2567407Plyler v. Doe 457 USA. 202 (1982).