The United States, as a modern nation-state, was built on successive waves of migration. From its earliest days, the population of the country has been shaped largely by people arriving from other parts of the world, while the Indigenous peoples of North America make up a demographic minority in today’s overall population. The history of immigration to the United States stretches back to the late 15th century, when European explorers first reached the continent, and from that point forward, the movement of people into North America has undergone several distinct phases.
The first phase, covering the 17th and 18th centuries, was characterised mainly by European migration. Many settlers arrived in search of economic opportunity or religious freedom, while others came as part of British colonial expansion in various parts of what would become the United States. These early waves established the foundations for what later evolved into permanent settlement.
The second phase, which can be described as the period of forced migration, lasted from 1619 to 1808. During these years, an estimated 400,000 enslaved Africans were transported to the United States. Their arrival was not voluntary, yet their labour and suffering became a defining feature of the country’s economic and social development.
The third phase, from roughly 1830 to 1880, coincided with the early decades of US industrialisation. The growing need for labour—both skilled and unskilled—drew large numbers of migrants. Many came from Germany, Ireland and Scotland, seeking new livelihoods in an expanding economy. This was a period in which migration served directly to meet the industrial and technical needs of a rapidly modernising country.
The fourth phase, often referred to as the Golden Age of Immigration, spanned the years 1880 to 1924. With the opening of major ports of entry, particularly in New York, the United States saw the arrival of around 12 million immigrants. These migrants included Italians, Poles, Eastern Europeans, Russians, European Jews, and individuals from China and Japan. This era transformed the demographic composition of the United States and laid the groundwork for its multicultural identity.
The fifth phase, from 1924 to 1965, is known as the restriction era. US authorities imposed significant limitations on immigration from Asian countries and introduced quota systems that favoured migrants from Northern and Western Europe. These policies reflected both geopolitical considerations and domestic attitudes of the time, leading to sharp declines in migration from many regions.
The sixth and modern phase began after the immigration and nationality reforms of the late 1960s and early 1970s. New legislation opened the doors to migrants from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, and created pathways for political refugees. Over the decades that followed, the United States received migrants from Mexico, Central and South America, the Middle East, Africa, China, the Philippines, India and Vietnam. Afghan migration to the United States also belongs to this modern chapter.
Afghans began arriving in significant numbers after the 1978 coup by the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan. Subsequent political turmoil, civil war, the first Taliban regime, and later waves of instability each prompted new rounds of Afghan migration. Although Afghan arrivals during the period of the Afghan Republic were more limited, the collapse of the government in August 2021 triggered the single largest wave. Around 90,000 Afghans entered the United States following the evacuation efforts of 2021. Today, estimates suggest that more than 200,000 Afghans—including those who have obtained US citizenship—reside in the country.
Throughout these historical stages, the United States enacted a wide range of legislative instruments to manage migration and citizenship. The earliest among them was the Naturalization Act of 1790, which established the country’s first rules on citizenship. The law restricted naturalisation to white immigrants and automatically extended citizenship to their children under 21. This act was later replaced by the Naturalization Act of 1795, which lengthened the residency requirement from two to five years and added conditions requiring “good moral character” and loyalty to the Constitution.
The United States adopted its first explicit restrictive immigration law in the Page Act, which imposed limits on certain categories of migrants, including women from Asia. This was followed by the Immigration Act of 1882, the first nationwide immigration statute, which placed the administration of immigration under federal authority. The same year, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, a milestone in the history of racially discriminatory immigration laws.
Modern US immigration governance rests on a set of core legislative frameworks. Chief among them is the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) of 1952, a wide-ranging law that remains the foundation of immigration and citizenship policy. Later amendments included the 1994 Immigration and Nationality Technical Corrections Act, which introduced updates and clarifications to existing law.
Several major reforms were enacted from 1990 onward. The Immigration Act of 1990 created the Diversity Visa (DV) programme and established numerical caps on certain immigrant categories. The Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 introduced sweeping changes, with more than 600 sections addressing enforcement, deportation procedures and obligations placed on migrants. After the September 11 attacks, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 reorganised federal responsibilities, shifting immigration enforcement and border protection to the newly formed Department of Homeland Security.
At the international level, the United States remains a party to several major human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, both of which recognise migration-related rights. The United States has acceded to the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, which incorporates the core obligations of the international refugee protection regime, though it has not ratified the original 1951 Refugee Convention.
Afghanistan’s multiple waves of displacement over the past four decades have shaped Afghan migration patterns globally, with the United States becoming one of the primary destinations for those seeking safety, stability and long-term opportunity. The evolution of US immigration law—spanning periods of openness, restriction and reform—continues to influence how Afghan migrants, alongside millions of others, navigate their legal status and future in the country.
Nasrullah Stanekzai is a political and international affairs analyst and a former professor at the Faculty of Law and Political Science at Kabul University. The views expressed are his own.
