As the 2024 US election approaches, immigration is among the most important and polarizing issues in American life.
The United States is, of course, a nation of immigrants. But their origins have changed a lot over the past 150 years, as have the laws that govern who can, and can’t come in.
Since the mid-19th century there have been three major waves. The first, mainly from Northern and Western Europe, came at a time when there was little federal immigration policy at all, with the notable exception of a racist law banning immigrants from China.
The second wave, coming chiefly from Southern and Eastern Europe, provoked a sizable backlash against Catholics and Jews who were seen as economic, political, and even genetic threats to America.
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