The Hart-Celler Act
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (Hart–Celler Act) abolished the national-origins quota system that had governed U.S. immigration since the 1920s, replacing it with a preference system based on family reunification and skilled labor. The law transformed the demographic composition of the United States, opening immigration from Asia, Africa, and Latin America at unprecedented scale. Understanding the numbers — roughly 40–45 million legal immigrants from 1790 to 1965, and approximately 65–70 million from 1965 through 2024 — reveals the magnitude of this shift and provides essential context for current immigration policy debates.
The total number of immigrants who legally entered the United States from 1790 to 1965 is difficult to determine precisely, but available data supports a reasonable estimate:
Immigration to the United States was relatively low during this period:
- Between 1790 and 1820, estimates suggest fewer than one million immigrants arrived.
- From 1820 to 1850, approximately 2.5 million immigrants entered the country.
This period saw a significant increase in immigration:
- From 1850 to 1930, the foreign-born population grew from 2.2 million to 14.2 million.
- Between 1840 and 1889, 14.3 million immigrants arrived.
- From 1890 to 1919, an additional 18.2 million immigrants came to the U.S.
Immigration slowed during this period due to restrictive policies:
- The foreign-born population declined from 14.2 million in 1930 to 10.3 million in 1950.
- Immigration levels remained relatively low through the 1950s and early 1960s.
This is a rough estimate, as precise records for the entire period are not available. This figure does not account for unauthorized immigration or emigration of those who returned to their home countries.
Between 1965 and 2015, approximately 59 million immigrants arrived in the United States. This number represents a significant increase in immigration following the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act.
- By 2022, the foreign-born population in the U.S. reached 46.2 million.
- In 2023, this number increased to a record 47.8 million, with a notable growth of 1.6 million from the previous year.
- By the end of 2023, about 500,000 immigrants arrived under special programs for Ukrainians and people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
Considering the 59 million figure from 1965 to 2015, and accounting for continued growth in subsequent years, the total number of legal immigrants admitted from 1965 through 2024 is approximately 65–70 million.
This estimate includes both new arrivals and adjustments of status for those already in the U.S. It does not account for deaths or emigrants who left the U.S. during this period, and may slightly overlap with some pre-1965 immigrants still present in recent population counts.