The United States Immigration Laws are based on a few principles. Immigration has served as a major contribution to the growth of the population in the United States. The United States has been noted to have the largest immigrant population out of all the countries in the world.
Immigration laws are laws passed by the government that govern who can enter the United States, how long they can stay in the US, and under what conditions. When an individual enters the United States without permission, lives past the time period that they were permitted to, or breaks any law while still in the United States, let’s just say that they are not in charge of fate anymore.
From then and onwards they are governed by the immigration laws of the land. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, a wing of the United States Department of Homeland Security reserves the federal right to govern matters related to US immigration.
What Are The Functions Of The Immigration Department?
The Department of Immigration of the United States lays down the laws regarding the following:
- The process and administration of immigration procedures.
- Takes care of the issuance of Employee Authorization Documents. These documents provide non-citizens of the United States the opportunity to work in the United States temporarily.
- The Immigration Services Department also adjudicates upon petitions filed by non-immigrant workers of the United States.
When Did The Immigration Laws Start?
In the year 1917, Congress passed its first-ever immigration law. The uncertainty that had been around after the First World War gave rise to this Act. It paved the way for the Immigration Act that was to take effect in 1924. Learn more if you are willing to opt for an employment visa.
This initial step to more permanent immigration laws, the law of 1917 stated that any immigrant trying to enter the nation would first have to pass a test of literacy if such an immigrant was more than 16 years of age.
The Act passed provisions stating that any new immigrant was to pay more taxes. The officials vested with the responsibility were also given the power to be more discretionary when allowing or not allowing immigrants into the United States.
What Were The Immigration Laws Of 1924?
The Johnson-Reed Act also known as the Immigration Act Of 1924 includes two other Acts when fully functioning. It worked along with the Asian Exclusion Act and the National Origin Act. It completely restricted the immigration of Asians into the United States. The number of immigrants to be allowed from the Eastern Hemisphere was also limited by this Act.
The Act pushed back the year from which the quota was to be calculated to 1890. The new quota also started calculating the citizens into it who were originally British by roots but whose ancestors has long moved to the United States.
This led to the number of visas being provided to the population from the United Kingdom increasing and from the rest parts of the European Continent decreasing.
The Act excluded any alien by national origin or race including Asian lineage to be restricted from attaining naturalization. This seemed to cause trouble with the US-Japan relationship. However, the US Congress seemed to give precedence to the racial composition of the country.
How Did Johnson Improve Immigration Laws?
Many have stated that it was actually good that came out of these policies adopted in the Immigration Act. There is evidence that these policies were adopted on the grounds of scientific racism. It is a theory that uses science-backed reason to justify the superiority of a particular race.
What Arre The Current Immigration Laws Of The United States?
The Immigration and Nationality Act serves as the basis of all Immigration laws in the United States. This Act served as an effective anti-discriminatory law against the policies that were previously established by the Immigration Act of 1924. This Act removed discrimination on the basis of race and national origin, as had originally existed against Eastern European residents and people of Asian Origin.
US immigration laws can be divided into the following categories :
Immediate Family:
This includes spouses of the immigrants, any minor children of the immigrants, and also aged and elderly parents.
Employment-Based Immigration:
Such immigration can be allowed on the basis of the work visa available to the individual. They are expected to go back to their country once their visa privileges are over.
Refugees:
Refugee and asylum policies of the country depend on the respective governments.
And It’s A Wrap!
Immigration has been a very sensitive topic in recent times with anti-immigration policies on the rise in the United States. The Refugee crisis around the world also continues to get worse with the absence of strong immigration laws.
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