The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952

The Act of 1952, known as the McCarran-Walter Act, became law when Congress overrode the President’s veto, and it was enacted on June 27, 1952, as Public Law 414, 82d Cong., 2d Sess. Under its terms the law was designated the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Although the McCarran-Walter Act has been repeatedly amended, it still is the basic statute dealing with immigration and nationality. The amendments have been fitted into the structure of the parent statute and most of the original enactment remains undisturbed.

The Act of 1952 was described as a recodification of existing law, but actually it made many changes, some of them rather important.