The College World Reporter

Hispanic Heritage Timeline of Important Events
Source: Gale Cenage Learning http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/chh/timeline/1971.htm
Date	Event
1972	Ramona Acosta Bañuelos becomes the first Hispanic treasurer of the United States.
1973	The right of the Puerto Rican people to decide their own future as a nation is approved by the United Nations. In 1978, the United Nations recognizes Puerto Rico as a colony of the United States.
1973	An employment discrimination case, Espinoza v. Farah Manufacturing Company, argues discrimination toward an employee, Espinoza, on the basis of his citizenship status under the Civil Rights Act. However, the Supreme Court holds that there is nothing in Title VII, the equal employment opportunities provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, that makes it illegal to discriminate on the basis of citizenship or alienage.
1973	The Labor Council of Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) forms to promote the interests of Hispanics within organized labor.
1974	Congress passes the Equal Educational Opportunity Act to create equality in public schools by making bilingual education available to Hispanic youth. According to the framers of the act, equal education means more than equal facilities and equal access to teachers. Students who have trouble with the English language must be given programs to help them learn English.
1975	The Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1975 extend the provisions of the original Voting Rights Act of 1965 and makes permanent the national ban on literacy tests. Critical for Hispanic Americans, the amendments make bilingual ballots a requirement in certain areas.
1978 - 1988	Hispanic female participation in the work force more than doubles, from 1.7 million to 3.6 million. In 1988, 56.6 percent of Hispanic women are in the work force, compared with 66.2 percent of white women and 63.8 percent of blacks.
1978 - 1988	The proportion of Hispanic children living in poverty rises more than 45 percent. By 1989, 38 percent of Hispanic children are living in poverty.
1979	Political upheaval and civil wars in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Guatemala contribute to large migrations of refugees to the United States.
1980	Fidel Castro, reacting to negative worldwide press, announces that anyone who wants to leave Cuba should go to the Peruvian embassy there. Ten thousand Cubans descend upon the embassy grounds and receive exit visas. Cuban Americans in Florida organize a fleet of boats to pick up the Cuban exiles at Mariel Harbor. The Mariel Boatlift continues from April through September. By year end, more than 125,000 "Marielitos" migrate to the United States.
1980	The Refugee Act of 1980 removes the ideological definition of refugee as one who flees from a Communist regime, thus allowing thousands to enter the United States as refugees.
1986	After more than a decade of debate, Congress enacts The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), creating a process through which illegal aliens could become legal immigrants by giving legal status to applicants who had been in the United States illegally since January 1, 1982.
1988	President Ronald Reagan appoints the first Hispanic Secretary of Education: Lauro F. Cavazos.
1989	Immigration from the Americas rises from 44.3 percent in 1964 to 61.4 percent. Of the major countries, Mexico accounts for 37.1 percent of total documented immigration to the United States, the next highest number of immigrants being from El Salvador, 5.3 percent.
1990	President George Bush appoints the first woman and first Hispanic surgeon general of the United States: Antonia C. Novello.
1991	The proposed North American Free Trade Agreement between Mexico, the United States, and Canada expands even further the maquiladora concept, offering potentially greater tax abatements for U.S. businesses.
1991	Despite the U.S. Congress' refusal to consider the statehood of Puerto Rico, a referendum is held on the island, clearly showing that the population is in favor of statehood.
March 1991	Unemployment among Hispanics in the United States reaches 10.3 percent, roughly double the rate for whites.
October 23, 1991	President George Bush signs the Cuban Democracy Act, also known as the Torricelli Bill, which bans trade with Cuba by U.S. subsidiary companies in third countries and prohibits ships docking in U.S. ports if they have visited Cuba. The Torricelli Bill is heavily backed by Cuban Americans, and Bush makes a point of signing it in Miami. Upon passage of the Cuban Democracy Act, the United States is condemned by the United Nations General Assembly for maintaining its 30-year embargo of Cuba; the vote is 59 to 3, with 71 countries abstaining. Even most of the United States' allies either vote to end the embargo or they abstain.
1993	President Bill Clinton names Federico Peña to the position of Secretary of Transportation; he is the first Hispanic to hold that post.
1993	President Bill Clinton names Henry Cisneros to the cabinet position of Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); he is the first Hispanic to hold that post.
1993	President Bill Clinton appoints Norma Cantú, the former director of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, to the position of Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Department of Education. The president also appoints 25 Hispanics to positions that need confirmation by the Senate.
1993	Ellen Occhoa becomes the first Latina in space when she serves on the space shuttle.
January 1, 1994	The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) takes effect to eliminate all tariffs between trading partners Canada, Mexico, and the United States within fifteen years from this date. Regarding Mexico and the United States, on this date 53.8 percent of U.S. imports from Mexico become duty free, while 31 percent of imports from the United States, excluding those imported by maquiladoras, become duty free. NAFTA passage is opposed in the United States by labor unions, which fear the continuing loss of jobs to Mexico, and domestic industries artificially protected by tariffs, such as textiles.
January 1, 1994	In Mexico, as many as one thousand Mayan guerrillas, baptizing themselves the Zapatista National Liberation Army, take over the important southern city of San Cristobal de las Casas, as well as the towns of Ocosingo, Las Margaritas, and others. This leads to bloody confrontations with and repression by the Mexican Army until a cease-fire is accepted by both sides on January 12, with an agreement to dialogue on the problems of the Mayas in Chiapas. The Mayas of southern Mexico have suffered poverty and dispossession of their communal lands for years. After a cease-fire is established, the government and Mayan rebels sign a tentative 32-point accord on March 2. In the months following the cease-fire, Mayan farmers seize some 75,000 acres of ranch lands, claiming that the lands had been stolen from them as far back as 1819. Thus, the issue of land remains on the table in the continuing negotiations with the Mayas.

November 8, 1994	Californians pass Proposition 187 with 59 percent of the vote. The initiative bans undocumented immigrants from receiving public education and public benefits such as welfare and subsidized health care, except in emergency circumstances; makes it a felony to manufacture, distribute, sell, or use false citizenship or residence documents; and requires teachers, doctors, and other city, county, and state officials to report suspected and apparent illegal aliens to the California attorney general and the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Governor Pete Wilson issues an executive order for state officials to begin following the initiative by cutting off government services to undocumented pregnant women and nursing home patients. On November 9, 1994, eight lawsuits are filed in state and federal courts protesting the measure.
November 16, 1994	In Los Angeles, California, Federal District Court Judge William Matthew Byrne, Jr., temporarily blocks the enforcement of Proposition 187, stating that it raises serious constitutional questions. Judge Byrne exempts the provisions that increase penalties for manufacturing or using false immigration documents.
1995	A nationwide boycott of ABC-TV by Hispanic Americans is held in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, and Fresno, in protest of the network's failure to provide Latino themed programming in its 1994 line-up.
1995	Federal Judge Mariana Pfaelzer rules that Proposition 187 is unconstitutional.
1996	Proposition 209, introduced as a ballot initiative, is passed by the California voters. The initiative bars preferential treatment based on race or gender, virtually eliminating affirmative action in state hiring, public contracts, and education. Although challenged in court, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal, and Proposition 209 eventually takes effect in California.
1998	On June 2, California voters pass Proposition 227, which bans bilingual classroom education and English as a second language programs, replacing them with a one-year intensive English immersion program. A federal judge denies challenges to the proposition in July, and 227 goes into effect in California schools in August.
1999	The Clinton administration okays expanded American travel to Cuba, approving direct charter flights from Los Angeles and New York. Tourists are still not allowed to travel to Cuba, but humanitarian-aid workers (including family members), athletes, scholars, teachers, researchers, journalists, and government officials make up the estimated 140,000 passengers from the United States to Cuba in 1999.
June 2000	Elián González returns to Cuba with his father. On Nov. 25, 1999, 6 year-old Elián was rescued off the coast of Florida after his mother and ten other people died trying to reach the U.S. from Cuba. For seven months Elián's Cuban-American relatives fought to keep him in the United States while his father, Juan Miguel, wanted him returned to him in Cuba. When Elián's father flew to America to retrieve his boy, armed federal agents had to raid the Miami home of González's relatives in order to reunite the boy and his father. Immigration officials and a series of court rulings all supported his father's wishes and Juan Miguel and Elián returned to Cuba after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal by the Miami relatives.
2000	Thousands protest the Vieques Agreement. Puerto Ricans are fighting to stop the U.S. Navy from resuming bombing exercises on the island of Vieques. The Puerto Rican government recently agreed to let the U.S. resume training exercises after a civilian security guard was killed in an accidental bombing in April.
2000	Hispanic Web presence grows. Several Spanish-language Web sites have been launched in 1999 and 2000, including Spanish versions of AOL and Yahoo!. The Spanish company Terra Networks also signed a deal with Lycos to target Hispanic Americans on the Web, while Yupi.com, another Spanish-language portal, has been making plans to offer stock to the public. To further boost the Hispanic presence on the Internet, Gateway invested $10 million in quepasa.com and Microsoft announced the creation of a new Spanish-language Web portal in Mexico. Spanish-language Web sites are expected to grow exponentially over the next few years.
2001	Rosario Marin is sworn in as the 41st treasurer of the United States, becoming the first Mexican-born citizen to head the Treasury and the highest-ranking Hispanic woman in the Bush Administration.
2001	Cari Dominguez is appointed chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the nation's foremost civil rights agency.
2002	President George W. Bush appoints Dr. Richard Carmona to the position of surgeon general of the United States.
2002	In Salt Lake City, Utah, speedskater Derek Parra becomes the first Mexican American to medal in the Olympics Winter Games, winning the gold and setting a world record of 1:43.95 in the 1500 meter race, as well as setting an American record and winning a silver medal in the 5000 meters race.
2002	Speedskater Jennifer Rodríguez becomes the first Cuban American to compete in the Olympics Winter Games, winning two bronze medals in the ladies' 1000 meter and 1500 meter races.
2003	Hispanics are pronounced the nation's largest minority group - surpassing African Americans - after new Census figures are released showing the U.S. Hispanic population at 37.1 million as of July 2001.
2003	Cuban-born Nilo Cruz becomes the first Hispanic playwright to win the Pulitzer for drama for his play Anna in the Tropics, about Cuban Americans working in an Ybor City cigar factory in 1929 Tampa.
2004	President George W. Bush appoints Carlos M. Gutierrez to the position of Secretary of Commerce.
2005	Alberto Gonzales is confirmed as attorney general of the United Sates.
December 2005	The U.S. House of Representatives passes a bill (H.R. 4437) intended to strengthen enforcement of immigration laws and enhance border security. The law would impose criminal penalties on aliens who illegally enter the United States, require employers to verify employment eligibility, and authorize the construction of fences along the U.S.-Mexico border. Opponents fear that the legislation will result in unfair treatment of immigrants, particularly in communities along the Mexican border, and create new roadblocks to gaining citizenship. The bill is sent to the Senate.
2006	According to the Census Bureau, the number of Hispanic-owned businesses grew three times faster than the national average for all U.S. businesses.
2006	Thousands of people join rallies in cities across the country to protest proposed immigration reform. The protests, organized by labor, civil rights, community, labor and religious interests, culminate on April 10 in a "National Day of Action."
2007	Univision, the most-watched Spanish language broadcast television network in the country, is sold for a reported $13.7 billion.
June 2007	The immigration reform bill (H.R. 4437) dies in the Senate.
August 8, 2009	Judge Sonia Sotomayor takes oath of office as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming the first Hispanic member of the Court.