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Immigration History


Boundless Immigration is dedicated to helping immigrants navigate the spouse visa and U.S. citizenship application processes.

Enjoy the following educational posts about the history of immigration to the United States — from the colonial era to the present.


George Washington and Immigration

July 21, 2017

During the early years of the United States, the primary concern around immigration largely dealt with how the fledgling country could draw more immigrants. Thomas Jefferson wrote that “the present desire of America is to produce rapid population by as… View Article


Immigration During the Roaring Twenties

July 9, 2017

The Roaring 20s may conjure up cosmopolitain images of flappers, speakeasies, art deco and jazz, but the 1920s were also a period of significant changes to U.S. immigration policy that would have repercussions for decades.The Immigration Act of 1924 (also… View Article


Immigration During the Cold War

July 7, 2017

Cuban refugees near Key West during the 1980 Mariel BoatliftBetween 1947 and 1991, U.S. immigration policy was shaped by the larger Cold War. In many case special allowances were made for migrants coming from Communist countries. In 1956, President Dwight… View Article


Immigration in the 1960s

July 3, 2017

During the 1960s, the foreign-born percentage of the U.S. population hit its lowest levels, hovering around just five percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Still, the decade would lay the seeds of a lasting change in the nature of… View Article


Jimmy Carter and Immigration

June 7, 2017

Jimmy Carter’s presidency provided something of a bridge between the end of the Vietnam War era and the early Reagan years. A little more than a year into his presidency, in August of 1977, Carter asked Congress to make it illegal… View Article


The Truman Presidency and Immigration

June 4, 2017

Harry S. Truman became the 33rd President of the United States following the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt on April 12, 1945. Truman led the country through the final months of World War II and the policies he enacted—many… View Article



The U.S. Constitution and Immigration

June 3, 2017

The U.S. Constitution gives very few specifics about the way U.S. immigration policy should look, but it provides broad guidelines as to who has authority to make such policy, as well as the legal means for challenges to elements of… View Article


Thomas Jefferson and Immigration

May 21, 2017

In his Notes on Virginia, written in the early 1780s, Thomas Jefferson expressed skepticism that large numbers of immigrants from culturally different countries would help the U.S. to thrive. “Suppose 20 millions of republican Americans thrown all of a sudden into… View Article


Eisenhower and Immigration

May 21, 2017

The presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower saw two significant initiatives affecting U.S. immigration and immigrants.In 1953 Eisenhower signed the Refugee Relief Act of 1953, welcoming 214,000 more European immigrants to the U.S. than were allowed under the current system of… View Article