President Johnson signed Immigration and Nationality Act into law, ending country quotas

President Johnson signed Immigration and Nationality Act into law, ending country quotas

October 3, 2009 04:00:00 am

On October 3, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson, standing in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor, signed into law the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.

The Act ordered the elimination of the national origins quota system established in 1882 in favor of a worldwide quota blind to national origin. Immigration was redistributed by pooling unused quotas and making them available on a first-come, first-served basis to oversubscribed nations. Learn more about the 1965 Act and its aftermath.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Organization of American States established

On April 30, 1948, the Organization of American States (OAS) was established in Bogota, Colombia with the signing of the Charter of the Organization of American States at the Ninth International Conference of American States.

Louisiana Purchase Treaty signed

On April 30, 1803, the United States and France signed the Louisiana Purchase Treaty in Paris, by which France ceded its Louisiana Territory to the US for $15 million.

Review the terms of the Louisiana Purchase Treaty.