Immigrant Diversity
Creators of the 1965 Act expected Europeans to be the main beneficiaries of their bill. It was expected that the groups who were already in the United States in large numbers would be the ones to petition for their relatives and not the racial minorities like the Asians, Africans, and Hispanic populations.
While the previous immigrant flow into the United States came mainly from Northern and Western Europe, the 1965 Act led to a moderate increase in Eastern and Southern immigrants, but an extreme increase in immigration from Asia and Latin America. By 1975, immigrants from Asia and Latin America accounted for about two-thirds of the immigrants entering the United States. This contributed greatly to our racial demographic today as many of these immigrants were first generation residents, beginning a line of racial diversity that is unique to America.
While the previous immigrant flow into the United States came mainly from Northern and Western Europe, the 1965 Act led to a moderate increase in Eastern and Southern immigrants, but an extreme increase in immigration from Asia and Latin America. By 1975, immigrants from Asia and Latin America accounted for about two-thirds of the immigrants entering the United States. This contributed greatly to our racial demographic today as many of these immigrants were first generation residents, beginning a line of racial diversity that is unique to America.
After the National Origins Quota was created in 1924, immigration began to decrease dramatically until 1970, five years after the INA of 1965 was implemented and had time to take effect.