To combat communism abroad, the United States not only lent support for democratic struggles abroad but became more welcoming to groups and regions that were anti-communist and believed in the virtues of democracy. On the heels of the Immigration Act of 1965, which removed discrimination measures against Southern and Eastern Europeans, Asians, and other non–Western and Northern European ethnic groups, the Cuban Adjustment Act made permanent residency easier for Cubans. Drawing on the long, shared history of the United States and Cuba, President Lyndon Johnson supported Cuban exiles escaping Castro’s regime. The Cuban Adjustment Act was a foreign policy measure intended to promote the tenets of U.S. democracy in the face of communist aggression.