Immigration is often viewed as both the foundation of the United States, and the plague of the United States. The United States was founded by immigrants, officially on July 4, 1776, and expanded by immigrants during the Industrial Revolution. Immigrants have built what this country is today, and that is undeniable. However, laws on immigration have changed substantially since the founding of the United States. From the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 up until 1875, immigration laws were left up to the individual states. Each state would determine its own specific policies on how immigration would be handled. However, in the case of “Henderson v. Mayor of City of New York, 92 U.S. 259 (1875), the Supreme Court ruled that
