*Please note that although U.S. Census Bureau data was used to examine population counts, there are limitations to historical data, including gaps in records and undercounting of marginalized individuals such as undocumented individuals, migrant workers, women, Indigenous peoples, children, enslaved people, temporary workers or students, and people who entered before contemporary record systems. Additional limits of historical data include changing categories over time (e.g. race, ethnicity, nationality), laws and policies that shape what gets recorded, and potential political biases in reporting. Because no historical dataset is complete, it is important to consider and acknowledge the limitations of data and the fact that there will always be missing data. That is why it is important to include stories and other sources, as this timeline does, to help fill in potential gaps.