• Immigration laws restrict who can enter and stay in the United States.Justice image by MVit from Fotolia.com
  
  To control the number and type of persons coming into the United States, Congress passed the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) in 1965. The lengthy and complex laws strictly establish that to enter the United States legally, a person must apply for and be granted an immigration visa. Occasional updates to the laws adjust for economic changes and immigration trends, but the laws themselves remain basically the same. Title II contains most of the restrictive laws.
  
  

Restrictive Laws on Who Can Immigrate

• Laws in Chapter 1 of Title II restrict the persons who can immigrate into the United States into three categories: family based immigration, employment based immigration and diversity immigration. United States citizens and legal permanent residents can petition only for immigration for spouses, children, parents and siblings. The law restricts job seekers to only those with special skills and education. The diversity laws restrict immigrants to certain categories, such as those seeking political asylum or those with humanitarian-based needs. These acts also restrict the number of persons who can immigrate.
  
  

Financial Restrictions on Immigrant Sponsors

• Laws in Chapter 2 of Title II require sponsors of family or employment-based immigrants to submit an "Affidavit of Support," showing that they will provide sufficient financial support for the sponsored immigrants. The law restricts sponsors to people who can "maintain the sponsored alien at an annual income that is not less than 125 percent of the Federal poverty line during the period in which the affidavit is enforceable." The law also restricts sponsors to be legal permanent residents over 18 years of age.
  
  

Laws Restricting Disciplinary Action

• Chapter 4 contains several laws that restrict the "inspection, apprehension, examination, exclusion and removal" of immigrants, for those who have overstayed a temporary visa or entered illegally. Laws in the chapter also restrict the location where transportation companies may discharge foreign passengers to only authorized inspections stations. The laws also restrict the prosecution of illegal immigrants to federal immigration judges.
  
  

Restrictions on Change of Status

• Chapters 5 contains laws that restrict which aliens already present in the United States may change their status from non-immigrant to immigrant or lawful permanent resident. Examples would include an alien tourist who marries an American citizen or a student who finds a job. Under most circumstances, such immigrants have the same restrictions as those in Chapter 1 for family or employer-based immigration, and must have entered the country legally. Some exceptions to the legal entry restriction may apply for humanitarian-based immigrants or those seeking political asylum.