COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act

May 2021

Amidst the increased visible attacks on Asian Americans, President Biden signs this act aimed at making reporting of hate crimes accessible, make...

President Trump uses term 'kung flu' during a campaign rally

June 2020

Rise of Visible Anti-Asian Violence

2020 - 2022

With the rise of COVID in the U.S. AAPI communities experienced a surge of anti-Asian violence (harassment, bullying, physical attacks, etc.).

COVID 19 Pandemic

2020 - 2022

(pandemic is currently ongoing)

Trump Administration Sanctions Visas for Laos and Myanmar

Jan 2017 - Jan 2018

The U.S. suspends visas for Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar to pressure them to accept deportees

United States v. Texas

June 2016

This court decision blocked the expansion of DACA. This expansion was meant to include other groups of undocumented immigrants.

Wisconsin Sikh Temple Shooting

August 2012

A mass shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek by a white supremacist and army veteran. Six people were killed and three wounded....

DACA is created

June 2012

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) is a program created by President Obama's administration. It allows some undocumented individuals who...

Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act

September 1996

"U.S. Congress passes the Illegal Immigration Reform & Immigrant Responsibility Act, setting mandatory detention and deportation laws that apply...

Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act

August 1996

U.S. Congress passes the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, a welfare reform bill.

U.S. signs agreement with Vietnam

July 1995

The U.S. signs an agreement with Vietnam not to deport Vietnamese immigrants who entered the U.S. before July 12, 1995.

Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act

September 1994

U.S. Congress passes the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, the largest crime bill in the history of the U.S.

Murder of Latasha Harlins

March 1991

In LA, Black 15 year old Latasha Harlins is shot and killed by Empire Liquor Market proprietor Soon Ja Du following an altercation in which Latasha...

Civil Liberties Act

August 1988

Following the CWRIC hearings across the country, this act granted reparations and a presidential apology to surviving Japanese Americans who were...

American Homecoming Act (Amerasian Homecoming Act)

March 1988

Allows mothers and children in Vietnam born of American fathers to immigrate to the U.S.

Orderly Departure Program Established

1979

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees set up an Orderly Departure Program to enable Vietnamese to...

Diplomatic relations between the U.S. & People's Republic of China

January 1979

Establishment of diplomatic relations between the People's Republic of China and the U.S. reunites members of long-separated Chinese American...

More than 130,000 refugees enter the U.S.

1975

More than 130,000 refugees enter the U.S. from Vietnam, Kampuchea, and Laos as Communist governments are established following the end of the...

Lau v. Nichols

January 1974

Lau v. Nichols rules that school districts with children who speak little English must provide them with bilingual education.

Japanese American Redress Movement

1970 - 1988

The civil rights, anti-war, and ethnic pride movements of the 1960s & 1970s inspired Japanese American criticism of the WWII incarceration. Movement...

Mỹ Lai Massacre

March 1968

US soldiers kill as many as 504 Vietnamese civilians including 119 children & 27 elderly in Sơn Tịnh District, South Vietnam.

Immigration and Nationality Act (aka Hart-Celler Act)

December 1965

Immigration and Nationality Act (Hart-Celler Act) abolishes "national origins" as basis for allocating immigration quotas to various countries.

Delano Grape Strike

1965 - 1970

Began by Filipino farmworkers led by Larry Itliong. Later, Mexican farmworkers joined this effort.

Ngô Đình Diệm arrested and assassinated

November 1963

A U.S.-approved military coup overthrows President Ngô Đình Diệm of Vietnam.

Asian American representatives elected to public office

1962 - 1964

Daniel K. Inouye becomes U.S. senator and Spark Matsunaga becomes U.S. congressman from Hawaii. Patsy Takemoto Mink becomes first Asian American...

U.S. involvement in the “Secret War” in Laos deepens

1961

U.S. presence in Laos aids its military presence in Vietnam. The CIA recruits Hmong and other ethnic minority groups living in Laos to guerilla units...

Black Power Movement

1960 - 1979

California repeals its alien land laws

1956

Vietnam War (aka Second Indochina War)

Nov 1955 - Apr 1975

The conflict was primarily between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. Each side was supported by different global powers.

Civil Rights Movement

1954 - 1968

Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (aka McCarran-Walter Act)

June 1952

A clause in the McCarran - Walter Act grants the right of naturalization and a small immigration quota to Japanese.

U.S. breaks diplomatic ties with People's Republic of China

1949

5,000 highly educated Chinese in the U.S. are granted refugee status after China institutes a Communist government.

Luce-Celler Act

July 1946

Luce-Celler Act grants right of naturalization and small immigration quotas to Indians and Filipinos.

U.S. deploys atomic bombs, ushering in a nuclear age

Aug 1945

The U.S. deploys an atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, ushering in nuclear age. Three days later, the U.S. drops another atomic bomb on...

War Department forms segregated unit of Japanese American soldiers

1943

The War Department announces the formation of a segregated unit of Japanese American soldiers, and calls for volunteers in Hawaii (where Japanese...

Pearl Harbor attacked & U.S. enters World War II

December 1941

Japanese planes attack Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. A declaration of war against Japan is brought by the President and passed by Congress

Anti-Filipino riot in Watsonville, CA

January 1930

A group of over 500 white people attacked Filipino farmworkers after Filipino men were seen dancing with white women at a dance hall in Watsonville,...

Anti-Filipino Movement

1930 - 1940

(not restricted to this timeframe)

Immigration Act of 1924

May 1924

Immigration Act of 1924 created a national origins quota which limited the number of immigrants by country and excluded all immigrants from Asia.

O'ahu Sugar Strike

Jan 1920 - Jul 1920

This strike of primarily Filipino and Japanese sugar plantation workers took place over the course of 6 months. They were also joined by some people...

Japan stops issuing passports to picture brides

1920

Japan stops issuing passports to picture brides due to anti-Japanese sentiments.

CA ballot initiative closes loopholes in 1913 Alien Land Law

January 1920

Korean farm workers driven out of Hemet, CA

January 1913

Gentleman's Agreement

January 1908

Japan and the U.S. agree (Gentlemen’s Agreement) to halt the migration of Japanese laborers in the United States. Japanese women are allowed to...

Bellingham Riots

Sep 1907

Spurred on by the inflammatory rhetoric of the nativist Asiatic Exclusion League, hundreds of white workers swept through the coastal town of...

SF Board of Ed segregates Japanese and Korean children

October 1906

San Francisco Board of Education issues an order requiring all Japanese and Korean children to attend a separate "Oriental School," where Chinese...

Asiatic Exclusion League formed

January 1905

The Asiatic Exclusion League is formed in San Francisco. In attendance are labor leaders and European immigrants, marking the first organized effort...

Oxnard Sugar Beet Workers' Strike

February 1903

About 1,200 - 1,500 Japanese and Mexican sugar beet workers strike in Oxnard, California. Together they formed the Japanese-Mexican Labor Association...

Korean workers arrive in Hawai'i

1903 - 1904

First group of 7,000 Korean workers arrives in Hawaii to work in agriculture. In 1904, they work as strikebreakers against Japanese workers.

Signing of the Treaty of Paris

December 1898

The Philippine Islands become a protectorate of the United States under the Treaty of Paris ending the Spanish-American War.

Hawai'i is annexed by the United States

July 1898

Congress was convinced to approve the formal annexation due to the Spanish-American war and the strategic placement of Pearl Harbor naval base during.

Wong Kim Ark v. U.S.

March 1898

The U.S. Supreme Court makes a ruling that decides that Chinese born in the U.S. cannot be stripped of their citizenship, and that the 14th...

Japanese Immigrants cannot become citizens

1894

A U.S. district court rules that Japanese immigrants cannot become citizens because they are not “a free white person” as the Naturalization Act of...

U.S. supports overthrow of Hawaiian monarchy

January 1893

Queen Lili’uokalani proposed a new constitution to restore executive power to the monarchy and extend voting rights for most Native Hawaiians. The...

Many places forcibly expel Chinese residents

1886

Residents of Tacoma, Seattle, and many places in the American West forcibly expel the Chinese people. End of Chinese immigration to Hawaii.

San Francisco opens segregated "Oriental School"

March 1885

Following the outcome of the Tape v. Hurley case, the SF school board opened a "separate-but-equal" school for Chinese students.

Japanese laborers begin arriving

1885

Japanese laborers begin arriving in Hawai'i, recruited by plantation owners to work the sugarcane fields. Later in the 1890s Japanese immigrants will...

'Chinese Massacre' in LA

October 1871

Naturalization Act of 1870

July 1870

Puts controls on U.S. immigration and limited naturalization to “aliens of African nativity and to persons of African descent," in addition to whites,...

Anti-Chinese Movement

1870 - 1879

(not restricted to this timeframe, but there were explicit anti-Chinese efforts during this time)

Burlingame Treaty

Jul 1868

Burlingame Treaty established friendly relations between U.S. and China, including the encouragement of Chinese immigration to U.S.. But...

SF segregates Chinese students from other public schools

Sep 1859 - Sep 1870

San Francisco opened a public school for Chinese students in Chinatown. They were legally barred from attending other public schools until 1970 when...

California passes law to bar immigration of Chinese and other "Mongolians."

1858