top of page
 UNITED STATES v BHAT SINGH THIND.jpg

IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT OF 1965

1965

On October 3rd, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 into law. It officially lifted the federal quota system that placed strict limitations on the immigration into the United States for Asian countries. It was not until this act that the Chinese Exclusion Act was fully abolished. The law opened the door for immigrants seeking new opportunities, especially for those from Asian nations. Annual immigration spiked to nearly a half million people, with only 20 percent coming from Europe. 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Archive of immigrant voices [Data set]. (2012). Center for Global Migration Studies, Department of History, University of Maryland. https://archiveofimmigrantvoices.omeka.net/immigration-history

Barbar, R. (2017, February 03). How the civil rights movement opened the door to immigrants of color, Facing South. https://www.facingsouth.org/2017/02/how-civil-rights-movement-opened-door-immigrants-color

Chow, K. (2017, May 05). As Chinese exclusion act turns 135, experts point to parallels today. National Public Radio. https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2017/05/05/527091890/the-135-year-bridge-between-the-chinese-exclusion-act-and-a-proposed-travel-ban

Davies, D. (2019, January 16). How the 1965 immigration act made America a nation if immigrants. National Public Radio. https://www.npr.org/2019/01/16/685819397/how-the-1965-immigration-act-made-america-a-nation-of-immigrants

Immigration and nationality act of 1965 – Civil rights movement era [Video]. Advancing Justice-LA. https://archive.advancingjustice-la.org/what-we-do/curriculum-lesson-plans/asian-americans-k-12-education-curriculum/episode-3-lesson-5

TIMELINE OF EVENTS

CLICK ON AN EVENT ABOVE TO LEARN MORE...

opium wars 1.heic
taiping rebellion 3.heic
california gold rush 1.heic
transcontinential railroad 6_edited.jpg
TF_1.jpg
Chinese Civil War.jpg
Northwest China Famine.jpg
second sino-jap.jpeg

The Opium Wars

Taiping Rebellion

California Gold Rush 

Chinese Americans and the Transcontinental Railroad

Chinese Exclusion Act

Second Sino-Japanese War

The Chinese Civil War

Northwest China Famine

Japan's Comfort Women.jpg
Nanking Massacre.jpg
The War Brides.jpg

Japan's Comfort Women

Nanking Massacre

The War Brides

Screen Shot 2022-09-07 at 12.24.01 AM.png

Great Chinese Famine

Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.jpg

Immigration and Nationality Act

cultural revolution 1.jpeg

Chinese Cultural Revolution

51061059001_c9955289eb_o (1)_edited.jpg

COVID-19 Anti-Asian Sentiment

bottom of page