October 3, 1965: The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965

October 3, 1965: President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 into law. It is the first major immigration bill passed by Congress since 1924, and largely repudiates the laws passed in that era.

President John F. Kennedy, descended from hardscrabble Irish immigrants, opposed the immigration laws passed in 1917, 1921 and 1924, which were written during World War I and in the wake of that war, the rising tide of immigration over the preceding 50 years, and Prohibition. Senator Philip Hart of Michigan and Representative Emanuel Celler of New York wrote and sponsored a new bill, but conservative Southern Democrats stalled it in the House of Representatives.

But after Kennedy was assassinated, as with the bill that became the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Johnson, a former Senate Majority Leader, used his natural persuasiveness and Kennedy's memory to push the Hart-Celler Bill through. He got enough moderate Republicans to join with Northern and Western Democrats, and the bill passed the House on August 25, 1965, 318-95; passed the Senate with an amendment on September 22, 76-18; and passed the House with that amendment, without the need for a conference committee, on September 30, 320-70.

LBJ signed the bill into law at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey, in front of the Statue of Liberty, the great symbol of immigration to America, with the skyscrapers of Lower Manhattan in the background.

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 created a seven-category preference system that gives priority to relatives and children of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents, professionals and other individuals with specialized skills, and refugees.

But it also made the path to immigration from Latin America, Africa and Asia easier. According to the 1960 Census, the population of the United States was about 85 percent white, 10 percent black (and most of those descendants of slaves brought over from Africa, not descendants of Africans choosing to come for opportunity or freeing tyranny there), 3 percent Latino, and less than 1 percent Asian. The changes were gradual rather than immediate, but noticeable:

* 1970: White 82, Black 11, Hispanic 5, Asian less than 1.

* 1980: White 80, Black 11, Hispanic 6, Asian 2.

* 1990: White 75, Black 12, Hispanic 9, Asian 3.

* 2000: White 70, Black 13, Hispanic 12, Asian 4.

* 2010: White 65, Hispanic 16, surpassing Black at 13, Asian 5.

* 2020: White 59, Hispanic 19, Black 14, Asian 7.

I had heard someone say on TV after the 2008 election that Barack Obama got about the same percentage of the white vote that fellow Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis had gotten in 1988, 20 years earlier, but Dukakis had only won 111 Electoral Votes, while Obama won 365. This was due to the growth of the Hispanic vote, which the Democrats had solidly taken, especially after California and other Western States passed anti-immigrant initiatives in the 1990s; while the white vote shrank, and the black vote remained largely the same.

At this rate, by the 2040 Census, white people will be a plurality in America, but no longer a majority. This terrifies white Republicans as much as those in the 1910s were terrified by the rise in urban Catholics, leading them to demand that era's immigration laws, and Prohibition. So immigration became a Republican "wedge issue" in the 2000s, and Donald Trump demagogued the issue in the 2010s, and has continued to do so in the 2020s.

The 1965 Act has been amended in 1968 and 2000, and another Immigration Act was passed in 1986.

UPDATE: In 2023, both parties in Congress agreed on a new bill, one that favored the Republicans' ideas more than the Democrats', but the Democrats were willing to approve it, simply to take the issue off the table. But, just as George W. Bush did with the Iraq War in the 2000s, using it to question his opponents' patriotism, Trump didn't want to win on the issue, he only wanted to have the issue, for the same reason. So he told the Republicans to reject their own bill, and didn't pass. As of October 3, 2025, the issue is still there, being demagogued by Trump and his evil henchmen.

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October 3, 1965 was a Sunday, the last day of baseball's regular season. These games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox, 11-5 at Fenway Park in Boston. For the Red Sox, Carl Yastrzemski went 3-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBIs.

Whitey Ford was the winning pitcher, and went 1-for-3 at the plate. Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Joe Pepitone sat this season finale out. Tom Tresh, Tony Kubek and substitute 1st baseman Ray Barker each got 4 hits.

Despite this win, the Yankees fell from 99 wins and the American League Pennant the season before to 77-85 and 6th place. Everyone seemed to get old, or hurt, or both, all at once. Indeed, this was Kubek's last game, retiring before his 30th birthday later that month, because of a bad back.

By Opening Day 1967, the only players in the same positions as in September 1965 were pitcher Ford and catcher Elston Howard, although center fielder Mantle and 1st baseman Pepitone switched positions due to Mantle's legs, and the fact that there would be no designated hitter until 1973. And Ford would retire due to injury in May, and Howard was traded in August. Years later, Mantle would tell an interviewer that he looked around the field, and asked himself, "Where did everybody go?"

This 1965 season finale, despite the already-historic nature of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, at Fenway Park attracted only 5,933 paying customers. Two years later, the Red Sox won the Pennant in their "Impossible Dream" season, and games at Fenway have rarely been so sparsely populated since.

* The New York Mets were swept in a doubleheader by the Philadelphia Phillies at Shea Stadium, with both games ending 3-1. The nightcap was won by a home run by Billy Sorrell in the top of the 13th inning.

* The Washington Senators beat the Detroit Tigers, 3-2 at District of Columbia Stadium (later renamed Robert F. Kennedy Stadium) in Washington. Al Kaline did not play.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Roberto Clemente hit a home run. Ernie Banks went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Cleveland Indians, 2-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Steve Barber outpitched Sam McDowell. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-4. Frank Robinson did not play.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Athletics, 3-2 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the California Angels, 3-2 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Harmon Killebrew hit a home run.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros, 5-2 at the Astrodome in Houston. Bob Gibson went the distance, for his 20th win of the season. Lou Brock went 2-for-5 with a stolen base.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Milwaukee Braves, 3-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The Dodgers went with an early version of the "bullpen game," so as not to risk Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale before the World Series. Howie Reed pitched the 1st 2 innings, Bob Miller the 3rd (which somehow earned him the status of the winning pitcher), Mike Kekich the 4th and the 5th, John Purdin the 6th and the 7th, Bill Singer the 8th, and Nick Willhite the 9th. Those 6 pitchers, between them, allowed 3 hits and 3 walks. Hank Aaron did not play.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 6-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Willie Mays hit his 52nd home run of the year, and was named the National League's Most Valuable Player.

Frank Robinson went 1-for-3 with 2 walks and an RBI. This would be his last game with the Reds, who foolishly traded him to the Baltimore Orioles.

These games were played in the NFL:

* The New York Giants beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 23-3 at Pitt Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Cleveland Browns beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 35-17 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

* The Baltimore Colts beat the San Francisco 49ers, 27-24 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Washington Redskins, 14-10 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Green Bay Packers beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bears, 23-14 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Los Angeles Rams, 38-35 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* And the next night, 5 years before the advent of Monday Night Football, the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Dallas Cowboys, 20-13 at the 1st Busch Stadium (previously the last Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis.

In the American Football League: 

* The New York Jets lost to the Denver Broncos, 16-13 at Bears Stadium (later Mile High Stadium) in Denver.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Oakland Raiders, 17-12 at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Boston Patriots, 27-17 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.

* And the San Diego Chargers beat the Houston Oilers, 31-14 at Balboa Stadium in San Diego.