ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the history of the legislation that has shaped immigration to the United States (US). It explores the history of the volume and characteristics of the immigrant flow into the nation. The chapter explains why US immigration law evolved as it did, focusing on the history of the policy disputes behind the laws. It examines the values purported to be at stake with respect to immigrant flows and the validity of the social science findings supporters and opponents of certain immigration policies utilized to back their views. From 1789 to 1874—for close to ninety years—the federal government had no laws directly restricting immigration. Moreover, even though no direct restrictions on immigration were enacted into federal law during this period, some state governments did restrict the immigration of paupers. Social scientists also entered the debate over immigration restriction.
