John F. Kennedy

In 1921 and 1924, Congress passed laws that placed limits on immigration. These laws awarded each foreign country immigration quotas based on the ethnic composition of the United States. The effect of the laws, revised but not significantly changed in 1952, was to sharply limit immigration from southern and eastern Europe, as well as Africa and Asia. Many people criticized this quota system as being racist and at odds with American values. In the following viewpoint, John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) argues that this system of national origins quotas is embarrassing to the United States and should be eliminated. Kennedy, a great-grandson of Irish immigrants, was elected president of the United States in 1960. Many of the ideas Kennedy states in this viewpoint were enacted into law in 1965, two years after he was assassinated.

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