The act represented the first major attempt to restrict immigration into the United States.

The Immigration Act of 1917 was the first federal law to impose a general restriction on immigration in the form of a literacy test.

The access of recently arrived immigrants to health care in the United States has often been limited by cultural and language barriers, lack of information, and economic disparities.

U.S. immigration law has historically excluded openly gay and lesbian individuals on various bases, ranging from classifications of them as morally or medically unfit to their perceived social and political threats to the desirable character of American society.

The eugenics movement had a significant influence on U.S. immigration policy. Politicians, reformers, and civic leaders imbued with a sense of Americanism and scientific justification enacted laws to limit immigration to what they regarded as “desirable” types.

As an instructional tool to help language-minority students develop English-language skills, the English as a second language program came into popular usage during the late 1950’s.