Mike A Schwab writes:

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

At least in the US, restrictions on entry were sold as emergency
measures, like the income tax. Oddly enough both are still going
strong.