Immigration is what made America what it is today. An immigrant is a person who comes to a country to establish permanent residence. In the United States of America, everyone is an immigrant who either settled here themselves or is directly related to someone who did. We all came from different parts of the world, even as far back as the Native Americans when they migrated from Asia to the United States. Immigration is necessary to develop America with new cultures and ideas. Immigration is a necessity, but the way it is currently controlled is not working well because we are not fair in choosing which citizens we allow in, leading to an increase in illegal immigration. An important man in history named Christopher Columbus immigrated to America in 1492. “He landed somewhere in the Caribbean, marking the first encounter of Europeans with the New World” (Purcell 139). Nearly a hundred years later, Sir Walter Raleigh sent ships to America to explore and eventually establish “Virginia.” Since then, more and more explorers have come to America and “marked the territory” as their own. Some important immigration stories involved black African slaves and Mayflower residents landing in Plymouth and taking up residence there. In 1921, Congress passed the first comprehensive immigration restriction law. “This law sets a limit on total immigration and imposes a quota system based on nations of origin” (Purcell 140). About nine years later, a four-year period of negative immigration began, resulting in more immigrants leaving America than coming to America. Nine years later, almost all immigration was stopped because of World War II. The Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 ushered in a new era in immigration policy...... middle of paper ....... Web. November 26, 2013. “The Benefits of Common-Sense Immigration Reform.” White House. Np, and Web. November 24, 2013. .Bass, Frank. “Second-generation immigrants are outpacing America’s demographic success.” Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, February 7, 2013. Web. November 28, 2013. Simon, Julian L. “Journal of Libertarian Studies.” ARE THERE REASONS TO LIMIT IMMIGRATION? (1998): 137-52. Center for Libertarian Studies. Internet. November 29, 2013. .Bouvier, Leon F. “Kissing America: A Look at Immigrants Becoming Citizens | Center for Immigration Studies.” Center for Immigration Studies. Np, July 1996. Web. December 1. 2013. .