Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 or Hart–Celler Act was legislation passed by the United States Congress which repealed the quota system which many deemed ethnically discriminatory of the 1924 Johnson–Reed Act. The Act opened up immigration globally, replacing quotas for European nationalities with a worldwide lottery. Named after its sponsors Sen. Philip Hart (D–MI) and Emanuel Celler (D–NY), it abolished the National Origins Formula and replaced the United States' quota cap of 120,000 to 170,000. The immigration law also placed a "occupational immigration" clause which encouraged the immigration of needed professionals into the United States. As a result of the reduction in quota restriction the immigration of Filipino professionals increased, mostly professionals in the media field.[1]
The Immigration Act of 1965 also allowed immediate family member of immigrants to immigrate without effect on quanta numbers and thus allowed large families to immigrate freely. This resulted in making the Filipino community the fastest growing Asian community in the U.S.[1] President Lyndon Johnson was a strong advocate of the act and managed to persuade Congress to pass it.[2]
William F. Buckley, Jr., criticized it, saying in 2004 that, "Beginning in 1965, we simply surrendered on the subject of Western Hemisphere immigration."[3]
