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The racist history of US immigration policy

Banning an entire racial or ethnic group from entering the US isn't new, and the data shows it.

Banning an entire racial or ethnic group from entering the US isn't new, and the data shows it.

Immigrants and their descendants largely make up today's US population. European immigrants were the first and largest group to arrive, and subsequent policies made it much easier for people from European countries to come to the US.

That said, a decent numbers of Canadian and Chinese immigrants also arrived early in this country's history, and over the years, different policies allowed greater numbers of Hispanics and Asians to immigrate. Read the full article and view the interactive here.