Forty Years Since Increased Diversity in the U.S.
Posted Oct 07, 2005
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Earlier this week, on October 3, 2005, the fortieth anniversary of the passage of the 1965 Immigration Act was celebrated. This law eliminated the racial and national origin quota system in the United States, thereby opening the door to the U.S. for immigrants from Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Until then, the U.S. immigration law system had a strong bias toward European immigrants.
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Many of us think that difficult things happen to us while others before have not suffered as we have. That has primarily been the perception of every generation coming to the United States. In fact, the freedoms and technology we enjoy today are unprecedented in the history of humankind.
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It helps to have an understanding of the historical context of U.S. immigration law. Over two hundred years ago the Alien Act of 1798 authorized the President to expel from the U.S. any person considered dangerous. Although that 1798 law remained in effect for only two years, other laws on immigration have been passed on a regular basis since then, primarily seeking to restrict and control immigration to the United States.
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The framework of the existing immigration law can be found in the McCarran-Walter Act, also called the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (INA), which overhauled the then-existing immigration legal system. Although many other important laws have been passed since 1952, the fundamental framework of the immigration legal system vests with the INA. Highlights of other major laws are the 1965 law mentioned above, which resulted in greater diversity in the United States, and more recently, the Immigration Act of 1990, sometimes referred to as IMMACT, altering the employment preferences and creating the employment-based first preference Extraordinary Ability and second-preference National Interest Waiver category for certain highly-skilled immigrants.
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Our immigrants from all over the world contribute so much to the greatness and prosperity of this country. We at The Law Office of Sheela Murthy are proud to recognize and celebrate the 40^th Anniversary of the passing of the 1965 law allowing for increased and more diverse immigration into the United States.