The effects of the US 1965 Immigration Act Essay

The effects of the US 1965 Immigration Act - Essay Example According to the writings of Daniel in 2008, the effects that were intended differ completely from the actual ones. Around 22.8 million migrants came to America after the Immigration Act, which made the country the second largest in terms of the percentage of naturalized citizens. However according to Canellos (2008) the intended positive effects of the act completely matched the actual effects and led to the historical development of the country. The country, after the enactment of the act, experienced a change in the immigration pattern from a majority of European immigrants to an increase in Asian, African and Latin Americans. Another effect presented by the CIS report (though not supported by the other authors) was the increase in the dropout rates in the society with the increasing population of the immigrants. Though opinions about the actual effect of the act on the historical development and the changing nature of the society differ among the authors, the effects of the act o n the economy and the employment level of the country need to be disclosed. Primary resource essay Introduction: The Immigration Act of 1965 was passed by the Congress government of the country sponsored by Ted Kennedy, the senator of United States. With the new Immigration Act, the national origin formula that existed from the days of the previous Immigration Act of the year 1924 was abolished. ... The Immigration Act, when it was published, went unnoticed by the common people of the country as was the remaining eleven thousand bills published by the government of the country. The common people of the country were worried about the publication of the laws until the effect of those fell on the entire nation, ultimately affecting the lives of these common people. The same happened with the Immigration Act when it was first published by the Congress Ministry. However, with the proper enforcement of the act and its spread among the general people their lives started being affected gradually as the restriction on the immigration from the foreign land was considerably withdrawn with an annual limit being maintained by the law. The law ensured that not more twenty thousand of the people of foreign countries could immigrate to United States in a span of one year irrespective of the number of people of the same country already residing in the United States of America. The visas to the i mmigrants from the countries of the western hemisphere were produced on the first come first served basis. As the immigration policy of the country became almost the same for citizens of any country irrespective of their location, their economic and social conditions, the nature of immigration to the country changed. Previously immigrants, mainly from the European nations, visited America. However, with the change in the policy there occurred a shift from the European migrants to migrants from the continent of Asia and also from the countries of Central America and that of South America. The immediate effect of the Immigration Act of 1965 was that the number of immigrants in the country doubled itself within the span of five years, the time that the law