US Citizenship by Natural

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US Citizenship by Natural

The United States is a nation of Immigrants. For centuries people have

come to the U.S. in search of prosperity, freedom and financial

success. By definition of the Microsoft Bookshelf Encyclopedia an

immigrant is a person who leaves one country to settle permanently in

another country or region to which one is not native. People immigrate

for different reasons -- A group of people may immigrate to another

country because of some conditions which make it difficult for them to

live in their home environment. According to Microsoft Bookshelf

Encyclopedia, the reason for immigration is often social for example,

population increases, defeat in war, desire for a better life through

material gain and the search for religious or political freedom. These

reasons have usually prompted many more immigrants to the U.S. than

natural causes have. The website of the Federation for American

Immigration Reform explains how the first great wave of immigrants came

to the U.S. In the early 19th century, large numbers of people from

Western Europe left their countries to escape poverty. Many of the

immigrants also came to escape religious persecution and political

oppression. By the end of the 19th century, the majority of the

immigrants were from Southern and Eastern Europe. After 1921,

immigration declined due to new and better conditions in Europe and to

limitations established by the U.S. government. The first law was

passed by the United States Congress in 1862, restricted immigration to

the U.S.. This law forbade American vessels to transport Chinese

immigrants to the United States. Later, in the 1800s, the U.S.

Congress passed acts which prevented convicts, polygamists, prostitutes

and persons suffering from contagious diseases to enter the U.S. In

1917, Congress passed an immigration law that required a literacy test.

Aliens unable to meet minimum mental, moral, physical and economic

standards were excluded form the U.S. as well. In 1921, a

congressional enactment created a quota system for immigrants, by which

the number of aliens of any nationality admitted to the United States

in a year could not exceed three percent of the number of foreign-born

residents of that nationality living in the United States. It would

seem that the number would be quite small, however, the year was 1919

and the majority of the U.S. population was foreign born. In 1924, the

basic immigration quotas were changed to a system based on the

desirability of the different nationalities. A congressional act of

1943 repealed the laws keeping the Chinese from entering the United

States.

(Microsoft Bookshelf Encyclopedia) One will probably agree that it is

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