Immigration and Nationality Act
Encyclopedia
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 , also known as the McCarran–Walter Act, restricted immigration into the U.S. and is codified under Title 8 of the United States Code
. The Act governs primarily immigration to and citizenship in the United States. It has been in effect since December 24, 1952. Before this Act, a variety of statutes governed immigration
law but were not organized within one body of text.
(D-Nevada
), and Congressman Francis Walter (D-Pennsylvania
).
Truman vetoed the Act because he regarded the bill as "un-American" and discriminatory. His veto message said:
Truman's veto was overridden by a vote of 278 to 113 in the House and 57 to 26 in the Senate.
In 1953, McCarran said:
The Act defined three types of immigrants: immigrants with special skills or relatives of U.S. citizens who were exempt from quotas and who were to be admitted without restrictions; average immigrants whose numbers were not supposed to exceed 270,000 per year; refugees.
The Act allowed the government to deport immigrants or naturalized citizens engaged in subversive activities and also allowed the barring of suspected subversives from entering the country. It was used to bar members and former members and "fellow travelers" of the Communist Party from entry into the United States, even those who had not been associated with the party for decades.
It expanded the definition of the "United States" for nationality purposes, which already included Puerto Rico
and the Virgin Islands to add Guam
. Persons born in these territories on or after December 24, 1952 acquire U.S. citizenship at birth on the same terms as persons born in other parts of the United States.
A 1962 guideline explained procedures under the Act:
, Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish
, Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez
, Chilean poet Pablo Neruda
, Uruguayan scholar Angel Rama
, philosopher Michel Foucault
(France), Italian playwright and Nobel Laureate Dario Fo
, and authors Graham Greene
(Great Britain), Doris Lessing
(Zimbabwe (Rhodesia)-Great Britain), Dennis Brutus
(South Africa), Farley Mowat
(Canada), Kōbō Abe
(Japan), Carlos Fuentes
(Mexico), and Jan Myrdal
(Sweden), as well as Pierre Trudeau
prior to becoming Prime Minister of Canada
. Mowat wrote a book about his experience.
.
12 years after the promulgation of the regulations at issue in Haig v. Agee
, Congress enacted section § 707(b) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 1979 , amending § 215 of the Immigration and Nationality Act making it unlawful to travel abroad without a passport
even in peacetime. Prior to this since enactment of the Travel Control Act of 1918, passports were only required in time of war.
As a result of the September 11, 2001 attacks
, the Act underwent a major restructuring beginning in March 2003 and its provisions regarding the admissibility and removability of terrorist suspects has received much media and scholarly attention.
Title 8 of the United States Code
Title 8 of the United States Code outlines the role of aliens and nationality in the United States Code.* The first eleven chapters have been repealed, omitted, or transferred to elsewhere in the Code, in their entirety.-External links:...
. The Act governs primarily immigration to and citizenship in the United States. It has been in effect since December 24, 1952. Before this Act, a variety of statutes governed immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
law but were not organized within one body of text.
Enactment
was named after its sponsors, Senator Pat McCarranPat McCarran
Patrick Anthony McCarran was a Democratic United States Senator from Nevada from 1933 until 1954, and was noted for his strong anti-Communist stance.-Early life and career:...
(D-Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
), and Congressman Francis Walter (D-Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
).
Truman vetoed the Act because he regarded the bill as "un-American" and discriminatory. His veto message said:
Truman's veto was overridden by a vote of 278 to 113 in the House and 57 to 26 in the Senate.
In 1953, McCarran said:
Provisions
The Act abolished racial restrictions found in earlier immigration statutes. It retained a quota system for nationalities and regions. Eventually, the Act established a preference system which determined which ethnic groups were desirable immigrants and placed great importance on labor qualifications.The Act defined three types of immigrants: immigrants with special skills or relatives of U.S. citizens who were exempt from quotas and who were to be admitted without restrictions; average immigrants whose numbers were not supposed to exceed 270,000 per year; refugees.
The Act allowed the government to deport immigrants or naturalized citizens engaged in subversive activities and also allowed the barring of suspected subversives from entering the country. It was used to bar members and former members and "fellow travelers" of the Communist Party from entry into the United States, even those who had not been associated with the party for decades.
It expanded the definition of the "United States" for nationality purposes, which already included Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
and the Virgin Islands to add Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
. Persons born in these territories on or after December 24, 1952 acquire U.S. citizenship at birth on the same terms as persons born in other parts of the United States.
A 1962 guideline explained procedures under the Act:
Enforcement
Until amended in 1990, the Act was used to exclude many prominent individuals. These include British sociologist Tom Bottomore, Argentine novelist Julio CortázarJulio Cortázar
Julio Cortázar, born Jules Florencio Cortázar, was an Argentine writer. Cortázar, known as one of the founders of the Latin American Boom, influenced an entire generation of Spanish speaking readers and writers in the Americas and Europe.-Early life:Cortázar's parents, Julio José Cortázar and...
, Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish
Mahmoud Darwish
Mahmoud Darwish was a Palestinian poet and author who won numerous awards for his literary output and was regarded as the Palestinian national poet...
, Colombian novelist Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in...
, Chilean poet Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda
Pablo Neruda was the pen name and, later, legal name of the Chilean poet, diplomat and politician Neftalí Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. He chose his pen name after Czech poet Jan Neruda....
, Uruguayan scholar Angel Rama
Ángel Rama
Ángel Rama was a Uruguayan writer, academic, and literary critic, known for his work on modernismo and for his theorization of the concept of "transculturation."-Biography:...
, philosopher Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...
(France), Italian playwright and Nobel Laureate Dario Fo
Dario Fo
Dario Fo is an Italian satirist, playwright, theater director, actor and composer. His dramatic work employs comedic methods of the ancient Italian commedia dell'arte, a theatrical style popular with the working classes. He currently owns and operates a theatre company with his wife, actress...
, and authors Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
(Great Britain), Doris Lessing
Doris Lessing
Doris May Lessing CH is a British writer. Her novels include The Grass is Singing, The Golden Notebook, and five novels collectively known as Canopus in Argos....
(Zimbabwe (Rhodesia)-Great Britain), Dennis Brutus
Dennis Brutus
Dennis Vincent Brutus was a South African activist, educator, journalist and poet best known for his campaign to have apartheid South Africa banned from the Olympic Games.-Life and work:...
(South Africa), Farley Mowat
Farley Mowat
Farley McGill Mowat, , born May 12, 1921 is a conservationist and one of Canada's most widely-read authors.His works have been translated into 52 languages and he has sold more than 14 million books. He achieved fame with the publication of his books on the Canadian North, such as People of the...
(Canada), Kōbō Abe
Kobo Abe
, pseudonym of was a Japanese writer, playwright, photographer and inventor. Abe has been often compared to Franz Kafka and Alberto Moravia for his surreal, often nightmarish explorations of individuals in contemporary society and his modernist sensibilities....
(Japan), Carlos Fuentes
Carlos Fuentes
Carlos Fuentes Macías is a Mexican writer and one of the best-known living novelists and essayists in the Spanish-speaking world. He has influenced contemporary Latin American literature, and his works have been widely translated into English and other languages.-Biography:Fuentes was born in...
(Mexico), and Jan Myrdal
Jan Myrdal
Jan Myrdal is a Swedish author, leftist-political writer and columnist. He is an honorary doctor of literature at Upsala College in New Jersey, USA, and a Ph.D. at Nankai University in Tianjin in China. He has lived at various times in the United States, Afghanistan, Iran and India...
(Sweden), as well as Pierre Trudeau
Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, , usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals,...
prior to becoming Prime Minister of Canada
Prime Minister of Canada
The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution...
. Mowat wrote a book about his experience.
Modifications
Parts of the Act remain in place today, but it has been amended many times and was modified substantially by the Immigration and Nationality Services Act of 1965Immigration and Nationality Services Act of 1965
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 abolished the National Origins Formula that had been in place in the United States since the Immigration Act of 1924...
.
12 years after the promulgation of the regulations at issue in Haig v. Agee
Haig v. Agee
Haig v. Agee, 453 U.S. 280 , is a U.S. Supreme Court case involving Congressional delegation of authority over control of passports and the right to international travel. Philip Agee was an ex-Central Intelligence Agency agent living in West Germany who in 1974 declared a "campaign to fight the U.S...
, Congress enacted section § 707(b) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 1979 , amending § 215 of the Immigration and Nationality Act making it unlawful to travel abroad without a passport
Passport
A passport is a document, issued by a national government, which certifies, for the purpose of international travel, the identity and nationality of its holder. The elements of identity are name, date of birth, sex, and place of birth....
even in peacetime. Prior to this since enactment of the Travel Control Act of 1918, passports were only required in time of war.
As a result of the September 11, 2001 attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
, the Act underwent a major restructuring beginning in March 2003 and its provisions regarding the admissibility and removability of terrorist suspects has received much media and scholarly attention.
See also
- Immigration Act of 1924Immigration Act of 1924The Immigration Act of 1924, or Johnson–Reed Act, including the National Origins Act, and Asian Exclusion Act , was a United States federal law that limited the annual number of immigrants who could be admitted from any country to 2% of the number of people from that country who were already...
- History of laws concerning immigration and naturalization in the United StatesHistory of laws concerning immigration and naturalization in the United StatesThis is a history of laws concerning immigration and naturalization in the United States.-18th century:The first naturalization law in the United States was the Naturalization Act of 1790, which restricted naturalization to "free white persons" of "good moral character" who had resided in the...
- List of United States Immigration Acts
- National Origins FormulaNational Origins FormulaThe National Origins Formula was an American system of immigration quotas, between 1921 and 1965, which restricted immigration on the basis of existing proportions of the population. The goal was to maintain the existing ethnic composition of the United States...
External Links
- Bertram M. Bernard Immigration Law Index, U.S. immigration and nationality law, 1952-82