During the mid-nineteenth century, after more than two centuries as a closed nation, Japan began permitting emigration to the United States.

The Immigration and Nationality Act Amendment of 1965 brought sweeping changes to immigration policy, including the elimination of the quota system. 

U.S. immigration policy, and ultimately the laws pertaining to marriage between aliens and citizens, has evolved in response to the American experience with earlier immigration, fear of change, and a number of major events that have affected U.S. history.

Many Americans believe they have the right to marry whomever they wish and to live with their spouses in the United States, even when their marriages are to residents of other countries.

Director George Stevens’s I Remember Mama offers an amiable portrayal of early twentieth century Norwegian immigrants, revealing their daily challenges, lighthearted moments, and career aspirations.

What people eat, when, and with whom—their “foodways”—are largely determined by their cultures. As circumstances allowed, immigrant groups brought their food preferences and eating customs with them to the United States, allowing them to maintain a sense of identity and cohesion.

An extension of another piece of post-World War II legislation, the War Brides Act of 1945, the Fiancées Act granted the fiancés of American servicemen a special exemption from previously established immigration quotas that allowed them to enter the United States.

The supply of farm labor has become one of the most significant issues in U.S. immigration policy.

Family businesses have played an important role in the lives of immigrants to the United States. These businesses have enabled immigrants to establish themselves, first as members of their ethnic neighborhoods and secondly, as members of the American community in which they live.

U.S. immigration laws have emphasized the goal of family reunification, making it relatively easy for relatives of immigrants already in the United States to enter the country.

Throughout the history of the United States, quests for economic betterment have been a driving force behind the decisions of immigrants to come to the United States.

Chinese family associations, or fangs, provided social and financial support to early Chinese immigrants living in hostile environments.

The estimated five million child immigrants residing in the United States during the first decade of the twenty-first century have presented unique anomalies for those charged with enforcing immigration laws.

The Chang Chan ruling upheld the application of a law disallowing the entrance of some foreign wives of U.S. citizens.

As a result of family members or neighbors contacting others from their home countries for purposes of inspiring them to become their new neighbors in America, chain migration has had a significant impact on the history and growth of immigration to the United States.

From the creation of the United States during the late eighteenth century, it was assumed that people would immigrate to the country. The first law setting standards and processes for immigration was passed in 1790.