Serious question here: When did America pass the first law on immigration?

Question

I keep hearing things like
"your ancestors were immigrants"
"You stole the land from the Indians"
There surely were no laws pertaining to who could and could not come here in the beginning.
What year was the first law passed and why?
The Indians most likely did not want us here but there were no laws to stop us.
When my ancestors came were they breaking any laws? Or were they just coming over on a ship and starting a new life?
Today the USA has rules that must be followed to come into this country legally and we let plenty of people in who are willing to follow the rules/laws.

Answer 1

It is my understanding that the first immigration laws were passed in the 1930s.
I'm searching for verification OK
I was off a few years,

1924, Congress enacted the first law limiting immigration to the United States and stating how those who could immigrate legally would be identified. The current immigration system, including numbers and categories, was established by the Immigration Act of 1990. Between these two "bookends," two other main laws regulated immigration.

Answer 2

The first was the Naturalization Act of 1790, which did not limit residence, but citizenship. The first law specifically dealing with mere entry to the country was passed in 1875 as the Page Act. This was followed closely by several laws such as the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882), Geary Act (1892), Gentleman's Agreement (1907), and the Immigration Act of 1917.

Answer 3

In the 1800's there were laws limiting prostitutes etc, and one limiting Chinese. In the '20's the first main laws were passed, which sought to keep a historical cultural balance with large quotas from Europe (I don't think there were limits on Latin America but I am not sure.) In the '60's Kennedy revamped the laws to do away with those quotas and to put in place the family reunification principle so once they were permanent residents or citizens, people could bring more family.

There were other wrinkles, but those were the main ones, I believe.

It hardly matters how we got here since we built the infrastructure and economy they want and we pay the bills for education and health care, etc.

Answer 4

It was in 1924. It was the first law to limit immigration to the United States. Check this INS site. Hope this helps. Its pretty interesting to read why they enacted the laws and what immigrant groups were in the US at the time.

Answer 5

My grandfather came through Ellis Island, 100 years ago last October 6. There were immigration laws in place then.