In a radical break from the past, the Immigration Act of 1965 eliminated the National Origins Quota and became the frontier for American multiculturalism. The quota, legalized in 1924, imposed numerical restrictions on immigration based on country representation in the 1890 census, when more than 70% of the American immigrant population came from only three Western European countries. The Act of 1965 thereby dismantled the legally and culturally enshrined nativist ideal of white American homogeneity and inaugurated an era of mass immigration from all parts of the globe, effectively transforming all aspects of American society.
Produced by Anna Kunkel
