1) A letter from Samuel Adams in 1778 shows that America’s Founding Fathers required foreigners to receive permission from their intended state of residence before the US would issue a visa.
2) In a letter to James Bowdoin dated September 3, 1778, Samuel Adams wrote from the capital, Philadelphia, about a Mr. Temple. Temple had just arrived in New York from Great Britain. He sought to reside in Boston with his family and to travel to Philadelphia.
3) Adams wrote, “Congress …ordered the Secretary to inform Mr Temple, that if it was his intention to reside in any one of the United States, the same should be signified by him to the State in which he intends to reside …”
4) “… & the approbation of that State obtaind [sic] before a passport [visa] could be granted to him.” This is remarkable, as it shows that the Founders intended that states were sovereign to decide who may and may not reside within their borders.
5) Early American towns could block undesirables - even those with subversive agendas - from entering. Samuel Adams called for “such Steps as may be necessary to prevent the Inhabitants of other Towns from bringing & spreading Infectious Distempers among us.”
Many early American towns, especially in New England where most towns were built as private ventures, voted on whether to admit certain outsiders as residents. The reason was to keep the character of the towns.
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