Paving the Way for Pluralism

Abstract

This chapter recounts mainline Protestant political lobbying and testimony before congressional committee hearings, culminating in the Immigration Act of 1965, which ended the discriminatory quota system. During this time, mainline groups affiliated with the NCC increased their protest against the federal government’s racially biased immigration policy, as seen in their continued criticism of the discriminatory quotas established in 1924 and their response to the 1952 McCarran-Walter Act. In their attempts to challenge restriction, liberal Protestants encountered pushback from conservative Protestants and anti-communist figures during the Second Red Scare. Despite occasional opposition, however, mainline Protestant leaders often advocated a more liberal immigration system that would challenge racial discrimination in the spirit of the civil rights movement and elevate America’s stature internationally. Finally, this chapter concludes by exploring how Protestants aligned themselves in 1965 when Congress finally overturned the immigration quota system based on national origins.