1952-1990
U.S. ideological exclusion (1952-1990)
The McCarran-Walter Act let the U.S. deny visas to foreigners based on political beliefs, including communism. In Kleindienst v. Mandel (1972), the Supreme Court allowed the government to deny a Belgian academic's visa for ideological reasons, deferring to executive authority over admissions.
Then
Foreign writers, artists, and activists were barred from the U.S. through the 1980s for political views.
Now
Congress repealed the ideological exclusion grounds in the 1990 Immigration Act, making belief-based visa denial unlawful in the U.S.
Why this matters now
Shows that entry screening based on political belief was standard U.S. policy for decades and was later dismantled by statute.