The quota system, repealed
Before 1965, visas were allocated by national origin — heavily favoring Northern and Western Europe. Hart–Celler replaced origin with skills and family ties. In the act's own words, from now on no one would be judged by "the country of his birth."
Sources: Immigration Act of 1924 quotas vs. INA 1965 preference allocations. Family share of new LPRs today ≈ 74% (DHS Yearbook).
Europe went from ~84% of immigration to a rounding error
Last matched decade under the old law vs. the post-1965 decades: the source of America's immigrants changed continents.
Sources: DHS / INS Yearbook of Immigration Statistics; Migration Policy Institute tabulations. 1951–60 is the last full decade under the 1924 quota system.
The foreign-born share fell for 50 years — then it didn't
By 1970 the foreign-born share of the U.S. population hit an all-time low of 4.7%. Every year since, it has climbed — to ~15%, above the great-wave peaks of 1890 and 1910. The 1965 Act is the hinge.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, "Measuring Foreign-Born Population Over the Nation's 250-Year History" (2026); Pew Research Center. Interpolated between census years.
Annual immigration nearly doubled
The 1924 regime capped the Eastern Hemisphere at ~154,000 visas a year. Hart–Celler set 290,000 (170k East + 120k West) — and family preferences plus the 1976 extension of ceilings to the Western Hemisphere pushed it far past that.
Sources: INA 1965 §201(a); OAH, "How Should Historians Remember the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act"; INS Yearbook.
Two hemispheres, one law — and the freeze on the "other" 3%
Hart–Celler replaced Europe-first quotas with per-hemisphere caps and a 7% per-country ceiling — a rule so durable it still shapes green-card backlogs 60 years later.
Source: Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, §§201, 202. Per-country limit now 25,620 under INA §202(a)(2).
The borders were redrawn in people, not just on paper
Where America's immigrants actually come from, 1960 vs. today: the map flipped.
Sources: 1960 Census (Campbell/Gibson historical tables); Census Bureau American Community Survey 2023, via Migration Policy Institute tabulations.