For all practical purposes, the US had open borders until 1875. Many states actually promoted immigration as the US needed settlers to tame the North American wilderness, and most of the new arrivals came from Northern Europe. The first serious attempts to limit immigration occurred through a series of laws enacted between 1875 and 1917. These laws excluded lunatics, convicts, all Chinese peoples, beggars, anarchists, and carriers of contagious diseases.

Immigrants during this period were assessed a 50-cents-per-person tax. At the onset of the 20th century, the US received upwards of one million immigrants per year. Most of the new arrivals came from Eastern and Southern Europe, and tended to be Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox or Jewish, instead of belonging to America’s predominant religion at that time, Protestant Christianity. Many newcomers couldn’t read or speak English.

The First Attempts At Limiting Immigrants

A series of laws enacted between 1917 and 1924 attempted to limit the number of new immigrants. These laws expanded the categories of excludable aliens, established the quota system, and banned all Asians except Japanese, who had made a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ with the US.

The quota system restricted the number of visas made available to particular nationalities. The system, which allocated visas according to the number of persons of the same nationality living in the US, favoured the majority ethnic groups, namely the Northern Europeans.

The quota system limited the total visas issued to 150,000 per year, with no restrictions on persons born in the Western Hemisphere. Additionally, the US Congress decided to bar citizenship to ‘Orientals’, which meant that Asians, including Japanese, could no longer become US citizens.

By 1924, US immigration law limited the total number of aliens and imposed qualitative restrictions.

Understanding The Modern Immigration System

The next major change in immigration law occurred with the 1952 Act, which established the modern immigration system. The new quota system created limits on a per-country basis without regard to the number of persons of particular nationalities currently living in the US. Asian immigration was limited, rather than restricted.

The 1952 Act also established the preference system that gave priority to family members and people with special skills. This was the first attempt to target immigrants with special skills.

Subsequent changes to the immigration laws were driven by a more enlightened attitude toward civil rights. Positive changes were also due to the increasing need for US multinational corporations to attract skilled labour, and to transfer key personnel between the US and foreign operations.

In 1968 Congress officially abolished restrictions on Asian immigration. It also eliminated immigration discrimination based on race, place of birth, sex and residence. In 1970 Congress implemented the L-l – or managerial-transfer – programme. In 1976 Congress eliminated preferential treatment for residents of the Western Hemisphere.

Taking New Steps To Curtail Illegals

By 1986 the US was facing the biggest immigration wave since the turn of the century. Only this time the majority of immigrants were from Latin America and Asia. The West Coast of the US and the border states with Mexico and Cuba bore the brunt of these new arrivals. By some estimates, the number of ‘illegals’ exceeded the number of legal immigrants.

In 1986 changes to the immigration laws were intended to tighten up the system. Congress legalised hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, while introducing the employer-sanctions programme which fines employers for hiring illegal workers. To curtail an epidemic of bogus marriages to US citizens, Congress passed tough laws to prevent marriage fraud.

Current Limitations

While the 1986 Act focused on curtailing illegal immigration, the 1990 Act was aimed at helping US businesses attract skilled foreign workers. The 1990 Act established an annual limit of 675,000 permanent resident visas; 465,000 for family class; 140,000 for employment-based categories; and 55,000 for the visa lottery. On top of these limits, the law permits 125,000 refugees and smaller groups authorised by prior laws.

The 1990 Act also increased the number of employment-based visas from approximately 54,000 annually to 140,000 a year. The expanded business-class categories favour persons who make educational, professional, or financial contributions. For example, the 1990 Act created the Immigrant Investor Program. Conversely, the 1990 Act limited the number of non-immigrant visas available to professional workers to 65,000 per year. So far, most of the quota or numerical limitations of the 1990 Act for non-immigrant visas have not been reached.

The tragedy of September 11 caused a rethinking of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) admission policies as well as a reorganisation of the USCIS itself. The USCIS along with several other law enforcement agencies merged into a new Homeland Security Department on March 1, 2003. USCIS’s functions are shared among themselves, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Bureau of Customs and Border Patrol (USCIS).

One should be aware of the following changes in USCIS policies:

Bl/2 visas for temporary business and pleasure will, except in cases where more time is clearly necessary, be restricted to one month time in the US rather than the pre-9/11 six months. Extensions of time while in the US will be denied more often to force people to leave and face inspection at consular posts or at airports or land borders.

Temporary visitors trying to change to student status will be highly scrutinised and most likely denied unless they were admitted as an intending student. Remember, USCIS approved Mohammed Atta’s student visa posthumously, after he flew the plane into the World Trade Center. Some reform is in order.

Generally speaking, changes of status within the US will be highly scrutinised and denied more often than before 9/11. Aliens from suspect countries may have to register with local USCIS offices and report their whereabouts periodically.

These are the more important changes in policy, but not a definitive list. USCIS policy has been changing almost daily. It’s best to check the USCIS website, Department of State website or an immigration professional if you intend to come to the US and may have to ask for an extension of time or change of status to a different visa category.

Overall, we can expect continued pressure to reduce the numbers of immigrants, while at the same time improving the quality of their skills. Family class categories may be limited to immediate family members, while higher educational and/or experience requirements may be imposed on professional workers. There may be more encouragement for foreign investors.

The beauty of American immigration law is that the US has moved from an ethnically biased system which favoured Northern Europeans to one that is truly multinational, and allows freedom and opportunity for all. The US offers the only immigration policy in the world that is blind to race, religion, creed and colour. It’s truly a unique social experiment which continues to evolve.