Quote:
Originally Posted by garinda
A serious question.
When were controls first introduced on immigrants entering the States?
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I think the first laws controling wholesale immigration laws were enacted about 1924,( prior to that there had been the Chinese exclusion laws in the 1800s and a further one at the turn of the century to bar/reduce Japanese immigration ,) The 1924 law set up national quotas, prior to that emmigrants from Europe were allowed in wholesale , the only restrictions being the examination for health reasons at Ellis Island and other ports of entry , at these stations the sick and feebleminded were returned to their port of embarkation .
A place similar to Ellis Island was set up in San Francisco bay after the repeals of the Asian exclusion laws at Angel Island , (now a National Park which attracts many folks of asian extraction wishing to vist the place where their forefathers first came ashore)
Hispanic/Latino (confusing terms) immigration to the US happened thru several ways , from Spain and Portugal thru Ellis Island , though a big migration of Portugese to California happened thru of all places thru Hawaii , they had migrated there from the Azores following/developing the whaling industry and then moved east to California during the 40s/50s prior to statehood.
Immigration from 'south' of the border used to be limited to the border states and primarily seasonal agricultural workers , but due to sky high birth rates (blame Catholic Church) and economic collapse in Mexico there was a steep decline in living standard and thus more economic refugees heading north .
Immigration from other countries in Latin and South America, at least the folks I know are refugees from civil wars in Guatamala , EL Salvador and Nicaragura .
