Immigration and Nationality Act is adopted in Washington, D.C.

Also known as the Hart-Celler Act, it is signed by President Lyndon Johnson. Called “the most important piece of legislation that no one’s ever heard of,” it abolishes the quota-based policies that had favored immigrants from Northern and Western Europeans, dramatically increases immigration from Asia, the Pacific, and Central and South America, creates preferences for family reunification, and expands preferences for skilled workers. In Boston, it results in a five-fold increase of Chinese immigrants, especially university-educated immigrants from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia.