Italian immigration

Italy was second only to Germany as a source country for immigrants to the United States after 1820.

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Jamaican immigration

Jamaicans are the largest West Indian immigrant group in Canada and the third largest in the United States, behind Puerto Ricans and Cubans.

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Japanese immigration

For most of the 20th century, Japanese Americans formed the largest Asian ethnic group in the United States.

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Japanese internment, World War II

Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, Japanese Americans and Japanese Canadians were widely suspected as supporters of the aggressive militarism of the Japanese Empire.

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Jewish immigration

The Jewish immigrant experience was unique in North American history.

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Johnson-Reed Act (United States) (1924)

Making permanent the principle of national origin quotas, the Johnson-Reed Act served as the basis for U.S. immigration policy until the MCCARRAN-WALTER IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION ACT (1952).

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John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917–1963) politician

The election of John F. Kennedy, a Catholic of Irish descent, as president in 1960 marked both an ethnic victory—80 percent of both Catholics and Jews voted for him, but only 38 percent of Protestants—and the beginning of the end of the old age of European immigration.

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William Lyon Mackenzie King (1874–1950) politician

As prime minister during World War II (1939–45; see World War II and immigration), King largely reflected Canadian ethnic attitudes toward immigrants.

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Korean immigration

Korean immigration to North America remained relatively small until U.S. and Canadian immigration reforms in the 1960s eliminated racial limitations on entrance.

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Korematsu v. United States (1944)

In a controversial 6-3 decision, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Fred Korematsu, a U.S. citizen of Japanese descent, was guilty of violating a military ban on Japanese residence in various areas of California, pursuant to the provisions of Executive Order 9066.

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Labor organization and immigration

From the colonial period, immigrants were viewed as a potential threat to the interests of workers already in North America.

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Laotian immigration

Laotian immigration to North America was almost totally the product of the Vietnam War (1964–75).

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La Raza Unida Party (LRUP)

The La Raza Unida Party (LRUP) was the first attempt to create a national political party to represent the rights of Mexican Americans.

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Latvian immigration

According to the U.S. census of 2000 and the Canadian census of 2001, 87,564 Americans and 22,615 Canadians claimed Latvian descent.

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Lebanese immigration

The Lebanese, among the earliest Middle Eastern immigrants to come to North America in significant numbers, formed the largest Arab ethnic group in both the United States and Canada.

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