The point was more or less that no one had an issue with “legality” and the process was far simpler to become “legal” when it was people from Europe. It only suddenly became an issue when it was people trying to come to America from the Central and South America, Asia, and even Southern parts of Europe. Anti-immigration laws have always had a long and racist history that only seem to be created to focus on blocking very specific groups of people, specifically people of groups not deemed “White.” Anti-immigration laws have always had a long history in being racially motivated.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.hi...legal-border-crossing-usa-mexico-section-1325
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.history.com/.amp/news/the-birth-of-illegal-immigration
what about ellis island? italians, eastern europeans, etc faced discrimination aswell