President John F. Kennedy was the acting President as the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, also known as the Hart-Cellars Act, was being written. Kennedy supported the bill calling the existing quota system, which only allowed for a certain number of people to receive visas each year, "nearly intolerable  (history.com). Following his untimely and unexpected death, the succeeding President Lyndon B. Johnson used Kennedy's support as well as the concept that, "This bill we sign today is not a revolutionary bill. It does not affect the lives of millions. It will not restructure the shape of our daily lives" to gain the support of Congress and the American people (cis.org). Following the passage of the bill, President Johnson signed the bill into law at the foot of the Statue of Liberty as a symbolic gesture. Previously, the United States had millions of immigrants seeking citizenship and green cards. However, the quota system only allowed for 150,000 people total each year to be given visas. The new system implemented by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 allowed for 170,000 people per year to enter, allowing a certain number of people to be given visas per country of origin. This excluded "Special Immigrants  (those born in "independent" nations in the Western Hemisphere, former citizens, ministers, and employees of the U.S. government abroad) and immediate family of US citizens (ibid). Though the law did not radically
change the lives of the American people or the nation in itself, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (INA 1965) created a system in which the US government discriminated against people based on their labor abilities and country of origin.
The United States has always been seen as the land for opportunity. Many people from other countries believed strongly in the American Dream during the early 1950s and through the century even to now. Immediately following INA 1965, many people with "skil...