The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 is a United States federal law that was passed by the 89th Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on October 3, 1965. The act formally removed de facto discrimination against people of various ethnicities from the country's immigration policy and created a system giving priority to various categories of people such as relatives of US citizens, skilled professionals, and refugees. Previous policy consisted of the National Origins Formula of the 1920s, whose aim was to preserve American homogeneity by promoting immigration from Western and Northern Europe, an approach which came under attack during the civil rights movement for being racially discriminatory. This photograph shows President Johnson officially signing the Immigration and Nationality Act in a ceremony on Liberty Island in New York City.Photograph credit: Yoichi OkamotoRecently featured: Epinephelus marginatusSarah Forbes BonettaChild labor in the United StatesArchiveMore featured pictures