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As party majority in the Congress changed, so did the immigration laws. Allowing the Naturalization Act of 1798 to expire, the Republican controlled Congress passed the Naturalization Act of 1802, restoring citizenship requirements to five years rather than the fourteen as was required by the Act of 1798 (Immigration Laws 1800-1900). Immigration, encouraged with lenient immigration laws, flourished.
The INS Web Site gives a history of the creation and development of the agency. In 1864 a law was passed creating the first Immigration Office in the United States. Under this law a Commissioner was appointed by the President and served within the State Department. Without authority over the immigrations activity in other states the U.S. Immigration Commissioner had little effect. Four years later the first immigration office was abolished. Because of problems caused by the divided authority over immigration, the Immigration Act of 1891 was passed, establishing complete and definite federal control over immigration through a Superintendent of Immigration under the Secretary of the Treasury. From this early structure, the immigration side of the present INS evolved. In 1903, the Bureau of Immigration was moved to the Department of Commerce and Labor and was given broader responsibilities.
The naturalization role of the INS began when Congress passed the Naturalization Act of 1906, which shifted the function from the courts. The new law created the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization to administer and enforce U.S. immigration laws and supervise the naturalization of aliens. The combined functions lasted only seven years, as naturalization became a separate bureau again in 1913 when the Department of Commerce and Labor was split into two departments. Immigration and naturalization functions remained separate until 1933 when an Executive Order consolidated both functions under the Immigration and Naturalization Service within the Labor Department.
