Immigration post-1965

The Immigration and Nationality Act (1965)

Focusing Question: What were the causes and consequences of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following best describes US immigration policy from about 1920 until 1965?

• Flexible immigration policy that encouraged diversity.
• Quota-based immigration policy favoring Northern and Western Europeans.

• State directed immigration policy with little federal involvement.

• Labor first immigration policy that allowed temporary workers but no permanent immigrants.

Multiple Choice

What else was going on in the 1960s that encouraged a change to remove immigration restrictions based on "national origin"?

• The Cold War

• Increased military involvement in Vietnam

• The Space Race

• The Civil Rights Movement

In 1965, only about 1 in 3 Americans thought of immigration as a negative for the US. Americans generally thought immigration was good for the country.

Immigration is good

In 1965, a plurality of Americans (45%) said that levels of immigration levels should stay the same. There was no problem with how many people were coming in.

Current levels are good

Still, 70% of Americans supported getting rid of the national quota system. They saw it as discrimination and not in the spirit of the Civil Rights Era.

The law is bad

​Public Pressure for [Limited] Change

In 1965, the US passed its first major overhaul of immigration policy since the 1920s. We know it was a major overhaul now. At the time, it wasn't so obvious. When debating the bill in Congress, experts promised that little would change under the new law. It was just about bringing US immigration policy into line with evolving US values at the time.

A matter of principle

​"This bill...is not a revolutionary bill. It does not affect the lives of millions. It will not reshape the structure of our daily lives...[but] it does repair a very deep and painful flaw in the fabric of American justice."

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is NOT true about public opinion in the 1960s?

• People thought immigration was good for America.

• People thought the quota system was good for America.

• People thought the levels of immigration were good for America.

• Trick question. All of those were true about public opinion in the 1960s.

Multiple Choice

True or false: The people who created the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 knew the law would revolutionize immigration.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

One in three Americans in 1965 thought that immigration was BAD for America. What term best describes this position?

• globalism

• nativism

• racism

• communism

Multiple Choice

What US president signed the Immigration and Nationality Act into law?

• Lyndon B. Johnson
• Richard Nixon
• Harry S. Truman
• John F. Kennedy

Major Changes at Work

1. No more unequal national quotas.

2. Total cap of 290,000 immigrants (now 675,000).

3. Created a preference system.

4. Created exemptions from the overall cap.

The new law had four major features:

Preferences

The law had 7 preferences (in order):

• unmarried adult children of U.S. citizens

• spouses and children of legal residents

• professionals, scientists, and artists of exceptional ability

• married children of U.S. citizens

• siblings of U.S. citizens

• skilled and unskilled workers in high demand occupations

• refugees

Multiple Choice

The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act gave highest level of preference to which of the following?

• family members

• skilled laborers

• refugees

• Trick question. There was no preference system in the 1965 law.

Multiple Choice

How did the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act change the national quotas and the total cap on immigration?

• The act eliminated both the national quotas and the total cap on immigration.

• The act kept both the national quotas and the total cap on immigration.

• The act eliminated a total cap but kept national quotas on immigration.

• The act eliminated the national quotas but kept a total cap on immigration.

The law promised to reduce discrimination, allowing immigrants to come from all over the world. Eventually, a specific diversity allotment would be created.

​​Diversity

The law promised not to dramatically change the number of immigrants coming to the country. The mix would change, but the total number wasn't supposed to go up.

​​Stability

​Two Goals

Poll

Make a prediction: which of those two goals is going to be achieved by the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act?

• The law did NOT achieve either goal.

• The law DID achieve both of its goals.

• The law ONLY kept immigration numbers stable.

• The law ONLY increased diversity.

The 1965 did dramatically increase the diversity of immigrants coming to the United States. In 1960, some 67% of immigrants came from Europe. Now, that number is closer to 8%. No single source of immigration now quite has the dominance that Europe did under the quota system.

Growing Diversity

The law did not, however, keep immigration levels at the historic lows they had reached in the 1960s. Instead, specific features of the law allowed for immigration to increase in total numbers again, bringing the US back to immigration levels similar to what existed in 1900 before the national quota system.

Growing numbers

Multiple Choice

In 1960, the majority of immigrants to the United States came from which region?

• Europe

• Latin America and the Caribbean

• Asia

• Africa

Multiple Choice

In the 2010s, the majority of immigrants to the United States came from which region?

• Europe

• Latin America and the Caribbean

• Asia

• Africa

Dropdown

Since the 1960s, most immigrants to the United States are coming from either ​

Select answer

or Latin America. Back in the early 1900s, these would have been considered ​

Select answer

immigrants because they did not speak​

Select answer

and were not ​

Select answer

.

Multiple Choice

How has the number of immigrants coming to the United States changed since 1965?

• The number of immigrants has remained the same since 1965.

• The number of immigrants has increased since 1965.

• The number of immigrants has decreased since 1965.
• The number of immigrants does not show a clear trend since 1965.

Explaining the Numbers

The key to the growth of immigrations was the family exemptions.

Under the 1965 law, immediate family members of US citizens--spouses, parents, and minor children--did not count toward the overall quota. That means that (in theory) an unlimited number of people in this category could immigrate. When those people became citizens, the process repeated.

​

US immigration policy strongly prefers family ties, which is different from other similar countries.

Explaining the Numbers

Exemptions have driven immigration growth, but family migration isn't really unlimited.

Because the migration process still takes time and families don't act in real life like they do on paper, the actual numbers aren't unlimited. Since 1995, for example, exemptions to the immigration cap have usually accounted for less than 50% of legal immigration to the United States.

Though they make up a smaller group, refugees and asylum seekers are also exempt from the immigration limit. Since the Refugee Act of 1980, the president has the ability to set and adjust the total number of refugees admitted. In 2022, the cap was 120,000. There is no cap on the number of asylum seekers, but in 2022 only about 37,000 asylum requests were granted.

Escape to the US

​Chart shows the number of asylum requests granted since 1990.

Multiple Choice

What types of immigrants are exempt from the immigration cap under the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act?

• Immigrants from Western Europe

• Temporary workers on visas
• Individuals with special professional skills

• Immediate relatives of U.S. citizens, refugees, and asylum seekers.

Multiple Choice

Since the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, most immigrants to the United States arrive through...

• family connections

• employment contracts

• refugees programs

• asylum programs

Multiple Choice

Under the national quota system, what refugees were famously turned away from entering the US?

• Cuban refugees during the Mariel boatlift
• Vietnamese refugees after the Vietnam War
• Syrian refugees fleeing civil war
• Jewish refugees fleeing the Holocaust

In spite of rapid increases, American opinion of immigration has improved in the last thirty years. Now, about 70% of Americans think immigration can help with labor shortages, 80% want more skilled immigrant labor, and 67% believe in admitting more refugees. Since the 1980s, the focus of policy debate has shifted onto those who enter the US outside the legal process.

The Conversation Shifts

The Immigration Reform and Control Act granted legal status to 2.7 immigrants who had arrived illegally and created a new temporary worker program.

​​1986

The Immigration Act expanded the temporary worker program to include skilled labor and created a new "Temporary Protected Status" category for people who cannot safely return to their country

​​1990

IIRAIRA increased funding for border fencing and enforcement, expanded the reasons for deportation, and increased barriers for family entry and for reentry after deportation.

1996

Following 9/11, enforcement agencies--including Border Patrol, ICE, and UCIS (immigration services)--were placed under a single agency, the newly created Department of Homeland Security.

​​2002

​The Laws Shift Too

​*You don't need to know any of these laws by name.

• The total number of unauthorized immigrants has leveled out.

• Most unauthorized immigrants enter the country at legal points of entry.

• The vast majority of immigrants are in the US legally: naturalized,

​The Trends Remain

​in the process of naturalization, or on legal temporary visa (students, laborers).

Multiple Choice

Since 1980, the US debate about immigration policy has focused on...

• family reunification

• refugee resettlement policy

• temporary student and work visas

• border security and illegal immigration

Dropdown

Since 1965, both legal and illegal immigration have​

Select answer

. Recent laws have tended to focus on reducing the number of ​

Select answer

immigrants. Even so, the ​

Select answer

of immigrants in the US are here​ legally.

Multiple Choice

Since 2002, what agency is in charge of US immigration policy enforcement?

• United States Military

• Department of Homeland Security

• Department of Commerce

• Department of Human Services

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 was meant to be a minor change to US immigration policy. It ended up inaugurating a third great era of immigration in the US. The US immigrant population became both larger and more diverse. The system established in 1965 is, with small adjustments, the system of immigration currently in place in the United States.

​Wrap Up

Multiple Choice

Which of the following best explains why the US immigrant population became more diverse after 1965?

• The introduction of stricter immigration laws

• Europe became too stable and prosperous to send immigrants

• The rise of nativist sentiment in the US

• The end of the national quota system

Multiple Choice

Which of the following best explains why the US immigrant population grew significantly after 1965?

• the US government offered financial incentives for immigration

• exemptions allowed for immigration outside the set limits

• immigrants were fleeing from wars in Europe

• the US economy has boomed consistently since 1965

Match

Match the following periods of US immigration history with their correct description

• Before the federal government got involved (1840-1880)

• After the federal government got involved (1880-1965)

• Since the end of the national quota system (1965-present)

Immigrants came from western Europe

Immigrants came from southern Europe

Immigrants came from Latin America/Asia

• Immigrants came from western Europe

• Immigrants came from southern Europe

• Immigrants came from Latin America/Asia

Open Ended

How successful was the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 in achieving its goals? Explain your answer fully.