Immigration reform in the mid 1860s to late 20th century Solution In the 1860s some states passed immigration laws following the civil war.The surpreme court declared immigration regulation a federal responsibility.Rise of immigrants in the 1800 worsened off some areas and the Congress began to pass immigration laws in the late 1800 like- The Chinese exclusion act and Alien contract labour laws. Further in the 20th century,these laws became stricter.The Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1965 (the Hart-Celler Act)which abolished the system of national origin quotas.The refugee act was passed in the 1980 which defined policies for refugees.A target for refugees was set at 50,000.This caused the worldwide ceiling for immigrants was reduced to 270,000 annually. These acts substantially reduced the number of immigrants in the US..