Opening Heaven's Door: Public Opinion and Congressional Votes on the 1965 Immigration Act

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: University of Nottingham; University of Essex; Australian National University; Free University of Berlin
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0022-0507
• DOI: 10.1017/S0022050723000529
• 发表日期: 2024
• 页码: 232-270
• 关键词: individual attitudes; POLICY; preferences; STATES; drives; REFORM

摘要

The 1965 Immigration Act represented a radical shift in U.S. policy, which has been credited with dramatically expanding the volume and changing the composition of immigration. Its passing has often been described as the result of political machinations negotiated within Congress without regard to public opinion. We show that congressional voting was consistent with public opinion on abolishing the country-of-origin quotas but not with the desire to limit the volume of immigration. While the former initially reflected attitudes toward civil rights, the latter is consistent with contemporary expectations that the expansion in numbers would be modest.