The United States Immigration Act (Basic Law) of 1924 limited the number of immigrants who could be admitted from any country to 2% of the number of person from that country who were already living in the United States in 1890. The law was aimed at restricting Southern and Eastern Europeans.
The National Origins Formula was established in 1929. Total annual immigration was capped at 150,000. Asians were excluded but residents of nations in the Americas were not restricted.
The Immigration and Naturalization Act or McCarran-Walter Act of 1952 somewhat liberalized immigration from Asia, but increased the power of the government to deport aliens suspected of Communist sympathies.
The Immigration Act of 1965 discontinued quotas based on national origin, while preference given to those who have U.S. relatives.
The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 grants amnesty to aliens who had been in the United States before 1982 but made it a crime to hire an illegal alien.
Related Legislation
Miami is one of the top 5 immigrant destinations in the US.
See also: Languages in the United States
