Members of the Federalist Party did pass the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. The Alien Act was intended to restrict European immigrants who tended to side with opposing Democratic-Republican parties. Coincidentally, the Federalist Party was a forerunner to the Republican Party. The Republican Party of the 1850s was an amalgamation of other parties, including the American or Know Nothing Party who wanted to restrict Irish immigration because they were Catholic.