Immigration—Almost Four Hundred Years of American History - A Two-hemisphere System

In 1963 President John F. Kennedy submitted a plan to change the quota system. Two years later Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1965 (PL 89-236). Since 1924 sources of immigration had changed. In the 1950s immigration from Asia more than quadrupled from 37,028 (between 1941 and 1950) to 153,249 (between 1951 and 1960). In the same period immigration from North, Central, and South America increased dramatically. (See Table 1.1.)

The 1965 legislation cancelled the national origins quota system and made visas available on a first-come, first-serve basis. A seven-category preference system was implemented for families of U.S. citizens and permanent resident aliens for the purpose of family reunification. In addition, the law set visa allocations for persons with special occupational skills, abilities, or training needed in the United States. It also established an annual ceiling of 170,000 Eastern Hemisphere immigrants with a 20,000 per-country limit, and an annual limit of 120,000 for the Western Hemisphere without a per-country limit or preference system.

The Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1976 (PL 94-571) extended the 20,000 per-country limit to Western Hemisphere countries. Some legislators were concerned that the 20,000-person limit for Mexico was inadequate, but their objections were overruled. The Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1978 (PL 95-412) combined the separate ceilings for the Eastern and Western Hemispheres into a single worldwide ceiling of 290,000.