America was very much against immigrants between about 1925 and 1965. If you look at the history of the US they needed immigrants to settle the land, before their expansion westward they were quite against immigration.
> America was very much against immigrants between about 1925 and 1965.
And still despite immigration reforms and national origin quotas, USA still accepted by far more immigrants during this time period than any other country.
Per capita far from (Australia and Canada, Israel, France, Taiwan, Switzerland , Belgium, Argentina...) on an absolute number sure because they were the most populous industrialized country. Even the latter you could argue against as west Germany had many after WW2 move from all over 'back to' Germany.
I don't think the immigration policy has always been counter productive to American interests. The US has good institutions regardless of being reactionary and has many structural advantages (e.g. geology, size, good neighbours, climate, waterways ...). People want to come to the US because it's rich and their home countries have deficiencies.
And still despite immigration reforms and national origin quotas, USA still accepted by far more immigrants during this time period than any other country.