Modern immigration law began with the 1952 McCarran-Walter Act also known as the Immigration and Nationality Act.  Initially the law admitted immigrants under quota based on their nationality.  Then in 1965 Congress gave preference to immigrants with family relations and special skills.  The menus at right allow you to navigate to specific immigration information.  This article is an overview of US immigration law.

The history of US immigration law is, unfortunately, rife with racism.  Codified US immigration law began with the Naturalization Act of 1790 as a racial law limiting citizenship to "free white persons."

Asians have been a target of codified racism for more than a century.  The Chinese Exclusion Acts and Immigration Exclusion Act of 1882 barred Chinese immigrants from acquiring US citizenship and Congress passed additional exclusion acts targeting Chinese laborers in 1884, 1886 and 1888.

The Immigration Act of 1924 barred entry of 'aliens ineligible to citizenship' and non-whites were ineligible for citizenship.  Because Japanese and other Asians were barred by the 1790 naturalization law allowing 'whites only' to naturalize as citizens, the 1924 act excluded them from immigration.

In 1965 President Lyndon Johnson signed the Hart-Cellar Immigration Act, which ended the race-based quota system and replaced it with quotas based on family relationships, work experience and education.  The 1965 Act was passed during the civil rights era when so many established injustices were finally exposed to the light of day.  Before the 1965 Act, roughly 70% of all immigrant visas were granted to nationals of the United Kingdom, Ireland and Scotland.

Philip Burton (D-CA) captured the spirit of that time when he spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives in support of the bill and said:

Just as we sought to eliminate discrimination in our land through the Civil Rights Act, today we seek by phasing out the national origins quota system to eliminate discrimination in immigration to this nation composed of the descendants of immigrants.

Congressional Record, August 25, 1965, p. 21783.

The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act divides immigration benefits into three major categories: (1) family-based immigration, (2) employment-based immigration and (3) asylum and persecution-based immigration.

Employment-Based Immigration

The employment-based immigration system is designed to protect the wages and working conditions of US workers by imposing minimum wage levels, for example, and requiring employers to seek out qualified US workers for open positions and claim to have been unable to find any before filling jobs permanently with foreign workers.  Unfortunately, it is questionable whether some of these union-era protections work.

Budget cuts and a preference for appearances over reality has resulted in a system primarily concerned with the appearance of worker protections (much like our current FDA or USDA are primarily concerned with the appearance of healthy, safe food and drugs).  Increasing reliance on self-policing employers tasked with calculating an appropriate statutory wage, or recruiting for an open position increases the likelihood of both moral hazard and an Orwellian climate of fear where employers are unable to know if they've "done it right" until an audit when they may be patted on the back, or fined $1 million and debarred from hiring foreign workers for years.

Family-Based Immigration

US family-based immigration laws are relatively generous compared to many countries.  Immediate relatives of US citizens are not subject to any quota and may quickly immigrate to the United States or legalize after overstaying a visa, even for years.  The 1997 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) did make things much more difficult for foreign nationals who enter the United States illegally, who reenter after deportation, commit crimes, or engage in immigration-related fraud.

Quotas do force very long waits for some spouses and children of permanent residents and also for more distant relatives like married sons and daughters and brothers and sisters of US citizens.  The countries most impacted by quotes in both employment and family immigration are India, China, Philippines and Mexico.

Special programs are available for fiancées, adopted children, and other special family members and family relationships may support defenses to deportation under certain circumstances.