(PuertoricoReport) The United States acquired both Puerto Rico and the Philippines from Spain following the Spanish–American War in 1898.

In 1946, the Philippines ended its status as a territory of the United States and became an independent nation.

During the roughly 50 years in which the Philippines was a territory, U.S. law recognized Filipinos as U.S. nationals, granting them special immigration privileges.

This ended when Congress passed the Tydings–McDuffie Act of 1934, the law that guided the Philippines toward its independence. The new law ended the status of Filipinos as U.S. nationals and explicitly established that Filipino American nationals were to “be considered as if they were aliens.” Immigration quotas for the new nation of the Philippines would be limited to 50 individuals a year.