Quote · The Ben Shapiro Show
Ep. 2457 - WHAT COMES NEXT After Awful SCOTUS Ruling?
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The 1965 Immigration Act and the Supreme Court Rulings That Made It Worse
At 45:35 · chapter starts 38:10
The legislative and judicial history builds toward a grim picture. The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, Shapiro explains, didn't just shift national-origin demographics — it created a 7-tier family reunification preference system and capped Western Hemisphere immigration without providing a guest worker program, directly spawning mass illegal crossings. [1] — Ben Shapiro "Before 1965, American immigrants were overwhelmingly European. The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act scrapped national-origin quotas, cr…" 39:50 Reagan's 1986 EMTALA law required hospitals to treat anyone in their ER regardless of citizenship, which in practice turned emergency rooms into general healthcare access points for illegal immigrants. Plyler v. Doe (1982) mandated free K-12 schooling for undocumented children. Graham v. Richardson (1971) struck down restrictions on welfare access for short-term visa holders. [2] — Ben Shapiro "Bernie Sanders told his audience that progressives must fight on two fronts: against Trump, and to transform the Democratic Party from with…" 56:25 The cumulative result: tens of thousands of dollars in annual benefits available to anyone who crosses the border, creating a welfare-magnet dynamic Shapiro argues is the structural root of the crisis — not the birthright citizenship ruling.
The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, pushed by Ted Kennedy and LBJ, repealed the national-origin quota system and created a 7-tier family reunification preference, radically shifting immigrant demographics.
Before 1965, American immigrants were overwhelmingly European. The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act scrapped national-origin quotas, created a 7-tier family reunification system, and added a Western Hemisphere cap with no guest worker program — spawning mass illegal immigration as the unintended consequence.
The 1982 Supreme Court ruling Plyler v. Doe (5-4) struck down a Texas law barring illegal immigrant children from free public K-12 education, citing the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.
