Immigration Laws the Immigration Act Essay

america.gov. In the Eastern Hemisphere 170,000 immigrants were allowed in; in the Western Hemisphere 120,000 immigrants were welcomed in, Daniels continues. The law did limit the number of immigrants from "any nation" to 20,000 per year. As for "refugees" the law permitted only 6% of the total number of immigrants to be those considered refugees (Daniels reports that the 6% amounted to about 17,400 visas).

Between 1966 and 2000 about 22.8 million immigrants entered the U.S., and "the bulk" of those twenty-two million were "family members of recent immigrants" (called "chain migration") (Daniels). According to the Center for Immigration Studies the law (technically called "The Hart-Celler Act of 1965") "for the first time" gave a higher priority to "relatives of American citizens and permanent resident aliens than to applicants with special job skills" (www.cis.org).

Some of those preferences included: a) unmarried adult sons and daughters of U.S. citizens; b) members of "the professions and scientists and artists of exceptional ability"; c) married children of U.S. citizens; d) "brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens over age twenty-one"; e) unskilled and skilled workers in jobs "for which there is insufficient labor supply…" among a few other categories. The bill in 1965 was basically designed to put a stop to the blatant discrimination of the previous laws based on national origins, but the Center for Immigration Studies explains that while "some people feared a major increase" in the number of immigrants entering the U.S. others assured the doubters that would not be the case. To wit, Attorney Robert Kennedy wrote a letter to The New York Times: "The time has come for us to insist that the quota system be replaced by the merit system…It deprives us of able immigrants whose contributions we need…" (www.cis.org).

Conclusion: The Center for Immigration Studies says that the 1965 law resulted in about "more than one million people a year" immigrating into the United States, "with no natural end in sight." I believe the changes to the law were the right thing to do. In the first place, the United States cannot be seen around the world as a place that discriminates against Asians or any cultural group. The previous laws that prohibited Asians from entering the United States were base on international tensions -- and in fact the 1924 Immigration Act seriously angered the Japanese and contributed to their decision (at least in a small way) to attack Pearl Harbor -- and those tensions were largely ended after WWII. The problems that have been caused are mainly from illegal immigrants coming in from Mexico, and Islamic militants that somehow get into the U.S. with their despotic agenda.

Works Cited

Center for Immigration Studies. (1995). Three Decades of Mass Immigration: The Legacy of The 1965 Immigration Act. Retrieved Dec. 17, 2009, from http://www.cis.org/articles/1995/back395.html.

Daniels, Roger. (2008). The Immigration Act of 1965: Intended and Unintended Consequences

Of the 20th Century. America.gov. Retrieved Dec. 16, 2009, from http://www.america.gov/st/educ-english/2008/april/20080423214226eaifas0.9637982.html.

History Matters. (2008). Who Was Shut Out?: Immigration Quotas, 1925-1927. Retrieved

Dec. 17, 2009, from http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5078/.

U.S. Department of State. (2007). The Immigration Act of 1924 (The Johnson-Reed Act).

Retrieved Dec. 17, 2009, from http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/id/87718.htm......