When was it ever substantially not "whoever could make it over the border"? That only stopped being (mostly—see the Chinese Exclusion Act) our actual policy in

When was it ever substantially not "whoever could make it over the border"? That only stopped being (mostly—see the Chinese Exclusion Act) our actual policy in what, the 1950s? And after that, much to the relief of the agriculture industry that sharply opposed the change, we de facto barely enforced the new policy.