Us Citizenship By Naturalisation
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...
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