Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 - Timeline Event
Founder
Rep. Emanuel Celler (D-N.Y., 1888-1981) and Sen. Philip Hart (D-Mich., 1912-1976)
Time Period
1965
Description
President Lyndon Johnson signed The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, also known as the Hart-Celler Act, abolishing pervious quotas that had heavily favored Europeans. The new emphasis would be on skills and trades needed in America, with Congress allocating visas equally across countries, with an annual limit of 20,000 visas per country. While seeking an unbiased system, this also introduced new restrictions in the Western Hemisphere, where no numerical limitations existed before, leading to a rise in illegal immigration from Latin America.
Nonetheless, this global influx dramatically changed the religious landscape of the U.S. By the early 21st century, there were 3.3 million Muslims, 3 million Buddhists, 2 million Hindus and 500,00 Sikhs in the U.S. -- many of whom were foreign-born.
The Catholic Church benefitted from a huge surge of Catholic immigrants from Latin America and the Philippines. By 2007, 46 percent of Catholics were foreign-born; overall, the U.S. Catholic population grew from 46 million in the year the immigration act began to 68 million in 2016.
Nonetheless, this global influx dramatically changed the religious landscape of the U.S. By the early 21st century, there were 3.3 million Muslims, 3 million Buddhists, 2 million Hindus and 500,00 Sikhs in the U.S. -- many of whom were foreign-born.
The Catholic Church benefitted from a huge surge of Catholic immigrants from Latin America and the Philippines. By 2007, 46 percent of Catholics were foreign-born; overall, the U.S. Catholic population grew from 46 million in the year the immigration act began to 68 million in 2016.
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Religious Groups
Timeline Entries for the same religious group: BuddhistBuddhist: Other ARDA Links
Buddhist: Religious Family Tree
Timeline Entries for the same religious group: Hindu
Hindu: Other ARDA Links
Hindu: Religious Family Tree
Catholicism (Western Liturgical Family): Other ARDA Links
Catholicism (Western Liturgical Family): Religious Family Tree
Photographs
President Lyndon Johnson signing the Immigration Act- LBJ Library photo by Yoichi Okamoto
Emanuel Celler portrait- Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-127299
Philip A Hart portrait- United States Congress photo
President Lyndon Johnson delivers his speech before signing the Immigration Act- LBJ Library photo by Yoichi Okamoto
Book/Journal Source(s)
Rosenbaum, Robert, 1982. The Concord Desk Encyclopedia Concord Reference Books, Inc..Web Source(s)
https://cis.org/Report/HartCeller-Immigration-Act-1965Center for Immigration Studies.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/09/25/how-a-1965-immigration-reform-created-illegal-immigration/?utm_term=.4b4b1f952ae6
Massey, Douglas. "How a 1965 immigration reform created illegal immigration." Washington Post.
Web Page Contributor
Sandi DolbeeAffliated with: Former Religion and Ethics Editor, The San Diego Union-Tribune
