Kaylee Marquez
Dr. Purcell
History 1302
6/28/18
Immigration Quotas From 1924-1965
Starting in the late nineteenth century, huge waves of immigrants began to enter the country. However, immigration peaked at the end of World War I. Hundreds of thousands of Europeans were compelled to leave war-ravaged Europe for America for a better life. Congress and the United States government got a message saying that all Europeans would be leaving for America, so the government had to take desperate measures to regulate immigration. In 1921, Congress passed an emergency immigration act. This restricted immigration from Europe to 3% of the number of nationals from each country living in the United States in 1910. However, nativists were dissatisfied because this allowed more than 500,000 Europeans to enter the United States. More than half of them were from Southern and Eastern Europe. Finally, in 1924, a satisfying, permanent solution to the immigration problem was created – the National Origins Quota Act.
The National Origins Quota Act created limits to the number of people who could migrate to the United States each year. The act stated that for every country that had native-born people living in the United States, 2% of that number could immigrate to the United States. These numbers used were based on the 1890 census rather than the current population. Before, this number was 3%. Changing this number by 1% decreased the number of European immigrants by approximately 150,000. This only allowed about 350,000 Europeans into the country. Also, before, the numbers used were based on the 1910 census, but using the 1890 census biased who could enter the country.
One of the most notable provisions about the National Origins Quota Act is that it banned immigrants from Southern Europe, Eastern Europe, and Asia. That provision eliminated the problem of most Europeans coming from those regions. This allocated most of the available slots to immigrants from Great Britain, Ireland, Germany, and Scandinavia. Congress was allowed to do this because of scientific racism. Scientific racism, or Social Darwinism, is the belief that there is biological and scientific evidence to support racism. [insert quotes from social darwinism person]. This theory states that the Anglo-Saxon race is superior to all others. Congress wanted the country to stay superior with only the most superior people in it.
Additionally, the United States government was afraid of Communists entering the country. That’s why they banned Soviets, Italians, and Chinese and Japanese people. Especially during World War II and the Cold War, the United States feared that all people from those countries migrated to the United States was to spy and spread their beliefs.
After World War II, a large amount of people wanted to escape the war-ravaged Europe again, so Congress had to create another emergency immigration restriction act. In 1952, the Immigration and Nationality Act slightly altered the National Origins Quota Act. It stated that the quotas were based on the 1920 census rather than the 1890 census.
At this time, Social Darwinism was declining. It was still believed by many, but there
Despite the satisfaction of Congress with the National Origins Quota Act, there were many opposed to it. Detroit’s Robert H. Clancy said the National Origins Quota Act was “racially discriminatory,” and he was correct. These new quotas banned individuals from Southern Europe, Eastern Europe, and Asia from migrating to the United States is deemed to be discriminatory. Also, the act wasn’t widely liked among Americans. I interviewed my grandfather, Charles Meerdink, who lived in a small town in Iowa for much of his life. During his time in Iowa, he stated that “everyone in [his] town was okay with people immigrating from all parts of the world.” When he moved to Houston, he still said that every person in his life was okay with immigrants.
In 1965, the immigration quota in the United States changed. Under the new quota, 110,000 people from the Eastern Hemisphere and 140,000 people from the Western Hemisphere were allowed into the United States instead of quotas for each individual country.
There were groups who were more affected by the quotas than others. For example, People in Asia, for example, were banned entirely from migrating to the United States.