1. Immigration Act (Hart-Celler Act) of 1965
By: Melissa Montellano, Lauren Torres, Hannah Park

2. Background Information
1924 Johnson-Reed Act (National Origins provision)
Limited the number of immigrants entering the U.S.
Reserved about 70% of visas to Northern European countries
Strengthened rigorous literacy tests and tax fees from The Asiatic Barred Zone Act

3. Background Information (cont.)
1952 McCarran-Walter Immigration and Nationality Act
limited immigrants who were thought to be politically radical
accepted those who were willing to adapt to the U.S. political system
established to secure nation from widespread fear of communism

4. (University of Washington-Bothell Library, Sec. 2. Section 202)
Immigration Act of 1965
“No person shall receive any preference or priority or be discriminated against in the issuance of an immigrant visa because of [his or her] race, sex, nationality, place of birth or place of residence.”
(University of Washington-Bothell Library, Sec. 2. Section 202)

5. Who Supported the Act Also known as the Hart-Celler Act because
NY Representative Emanuel Celler proposed the bill
Michigan Senator Philip Hart co-sponsored it
Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy helped promote the bill
Was unpopular with the public but had bipartisan support in Congress
Previous president John F. Kennedy as well as the president during the time Lyndon B. Johnson both were against the previous quota system and Johnson signed the new bill

6. Who was most affected by Act
Changed American demographics with the influx of people from Mediterranean Europe, Latin America, and Asia
Five years after its passage immigration from Asian countries more than quadrupled
According to the chart while European
immigration decreased some, it did
stabilize after a bit , while Asian and
Latin American immigration grew
exponentially

7. Significant Factors Abolished the national origin quota system.
Increased the total amount of immigrants received to 150,000 to 290,000.
Non-quota immigrants (people from the Phillipines) and immediate relatives were not counted as part of the hemispheric or country ceiling.
Preference from highest to lowest: unmarried sons and daughters of U.S. citizens, spouses and children and unmarried sons and daughters of permanent aliens, members of the professions of science and artistic ability, married children on U.S. citizens, brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens over 21, skilled and unskilled workers in jobs that were low in labor, political refugees (people from Communist countries and Middle Eastern countries), and applicants that does not apply to the list above (everyone else).

8. What reasoning was used to support the law?
One of the big reasons was to get rid of the discrimination that abided in the old quota system; based the act more around the immigrant’s skills than their ethnicity.
This act acted more of a family reunification system; allowing family members to be allowed into the U.S.
Attracted workers, whether they were skilled or not.
According to Lyndon B. Johnson, it allows the accused to take refuge in the American borders.

9. How did the law affect democracy?
Strengthened democracy if only by a little
Got rid of previous quota based on race and national origin to replace with entrance based on family and skills
Gives equality to all incoming citizens since no longer biased
Lyndon B. Johnson said, “This [old] system violates the basic principle of American democracy, the principle that values and rewards each man on the basis of his merit as a man. It has been un-American in the highest sense, because it has been untrue to the faith that brought thousands to these shores even before we were a country.”

10. Overview Video Tom Gjelten National Public Radio correspondent
Author of A Nation of Nations
Interviewed by Simon & Schuster Books about Gjelten’s book
Book is about the impact 1965 Act had on immigration legislation

11. Works Cited
Boundless. “The Immigration Act of 1965.” Boundless U.S. History. Boundless, 28 Jun Retrieved 31 Oct from johnson-administration-223/the-immigration-act-of /
"Three Decades of Mass Immigration: The Legacy of the 1965 Immigration Act." Center for Immigration Studies. CIS, Sept Retrieved 31 Oct from
History.com Staff. "U.S. Immigration Since 1965." History.com. A&E Television Networks, Retrieved 31 Oct from
The University of Washington-Bothell Library. HeinOnline 79 Stat. 922, 03 Oct Retrieved 31 Oct from