Immigrant policy slowly began to develop for several reasons. When the size of the immigrant population increased, especially the number of immigrant families, it placed burdens on the social services and led to demands from social workers for greater resources and pleas from local authorities for national or federal assistance. In some countries this development was hastened by public protests or the fear of public protests and by disorders and sometimes actual riots. When the turning point came in the early 1970s, one of the reasons cited for stopping labor immigration was to avoid exacerbating the social problems of resident immigrants. As a result of the “stop” the immigrant population became more stable. Those who returned home could not remigrate, which meant that most chose to remain; they usually qualified for permanent status and were able to send for their families to join them. Large immigrant groups were becoming potential “immigrant minorities” with special needs and problems. Immigrant policy developed as a response to this new situation.

When large-scale labor migration began, no country had an organized national immigrant policy. Voluntary organizations took care of some immigrant problems and local welfare agencies offered assistance, but in general there was no long-term planning and very little understanding of the possible effects of immigration. In guestworker countries where immigration was officially regarded as being only temporary there was no need for a comprehensive immigrant policy.