On Wednesday, June 9, 2021 at 3:41:08 PM UTC-5, Radey Shouman wrote:
No visas were required for aliens wishing to enter the US prior to 1918,
were we not then a nation?

Although the origins of passports date back to the 400s BCE and customs officers to collect import duties for centuries, WW1 is when restrictions on immigration were formally introduced, especially the Ottoman empire forcing Armenians to leave their home and cross back to where their ethnicity were in the majority. This establish the precedence for Germany to exile Jews and the Indian / Pakistan (Bangledish) migrations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passport

https://www.mfa.gov.tr/the-events-of...verview.en.mfa