The Immigration Act of 1924, also known as the Johnson-Reed Act, stands as a significant turning point in the history of United States immigration policy. This legislation dramatically altered the landscape for individuals seeking to enter the U.S., imposing stringent limitations based on a “national origins quota” system. This quota restricted the number of immigrants from any nationality to just two percent of the total number of people of that nationality residing in the United States as of the 1890 census. Furthermore, it enacted a complete ban on immigration from Asia, fundamentally reshaping the demographic composition of incoming populations.
President Coolidge signing the Johnson-Reed Act
This act wasn’t conceived in isolation; it was the culmination of growing restrictive sentiments and built upon earlier legislation. To fully grasp the impact of the 1924 Act on the immigrant journey, it’s essential to understand the preceding measures that paved its way.
The Foundation of Restriction: Literacy Tests and the “Asiatic Barred Zone”
Years before the Johnson-Reed Act, the U.S. Congress had already begun to implement increasingly restrictive immigration laws. The first significant move in this direction was the Immigration Act of 1917. Fueled by anxieties surrounding national security during World War I, this act introduced several key provisions that foreshadowed the even stricter measures of 1924.
A key component of the 1917 Act was the implementation of a literacy test. This test mandated that immigrants over the age of 16 demonstrate basic reading comprehension in any language before being admitted into the country. This measure served as a significant barrier, particularly for those from less developed nations where literacy rates were lower. In addition to the literacy test, the 1917 Act increased the financial burden on new arrivals by raising the tax immigrants were required to pay upon entry. It also granted immigration officials greater discretionary power in deciding who could be excluded, opening the door to more subjective and potentially biased decisions.
Perhaps most notably, the 1917 Act established a geographically defined “Asiatic Barred Zone.” This zone encompassed a vast region of Asia, and individuals born within its boundaries were barred from entering the United States. However, there were exemptions: Japanese and Filipinos were excluded from this zone. The Japanese government had previously agreed to voluntarily limit Japanese immigration to the U.S. through the Gentlemen’s Agreement of 1907, while Filipinos, as citizens of a U.S. colony, were considered U.S. nationals and thus permitted to travel to the United States without immigration restrictions. It is crucial to note that while China was not geographically within the Barred Zone, Chinese immigrants were already effectively blocked from entry due to the Chinese Exclusion Act, enacted earlier.
The Quota System Emerges: Limiting Numbers
Despite the introduction of literacy tests and the Asiatic Barred Zone, many in Congress felt that these measures were insufficient to curtail immigration to the desired levels. As a result, the 1920s saw a push for even more restrictive policies. A central figure in this movement was William P. Dillingham, an immigration expert and Republican Senator from Vermont. Senator Dillingham proposed the implementation of immigration quotas, aiming to place a numerical cap on the number of immigrants from each nationality.
Senator William P. Dillingham
Dillingham’s initial proposal, introduced in 1921, set the annual quota at three percent of the total population of foreign-born individuals of each nationality residing in the United States, based on the 1910 census. This formula resulted in a total of approximately 350,000 visas being available to new immigrants each year. Importantly, this quota system did not apply to residents of the Western Hemisphere, reflecting different immigration considerations for neighboring countries. President Woodrow Wilson, holding a more liberal stance on immigration, opposed this restrictive measure and used a pocket veto to prevent its enactment. However, the political landscape shifted with the inauguration of President Warren Harding in 1921. President Harding convened a special session of Congress, and the quota law was successfully passed. In 1922, this act was renewed for an additional two years, solidifying the quota system as a cornerstone of U.S. immigration policy.
The 1924 Act: Refining and Restricting Further
By 1924, when Congress once again debated immigration policy, the quota system was firmly established. The discussion shifted not to whether quotas should exist, but rather how they should be adjusted. While some advocated for raising quotas to allow more immigrants to enter, those favoring stricter limits ultimately prevailed. The result was the Immigration Act of 1924, which further tightened immigration restrictions in several significant ways.
Firstly, the Act lowered the existing quota from three percent to two percent of the foreign-born population. Secondly, it shifted the base year for quota calculations back from the 1910 census to the 1890 census. This seemingly technical change had a profound impact. By using the 1890 census, which predated the large waves of immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe, the quotas were drastically reduced for these groups. This adjustment favored immigration from Northern and Western Europe, as the populations from these regions were proportionally larger in the U.S. in 1890.
Furthermore, the 1924 Act fundamentally altered the basis of quota calculations. Previously, quotas were based on the number of foreign-born individuals, or immigrants, in the United States. The new law expanded this to trace the origins of the entire U.S. population, including natural-born citizens. This meant that the ancestry of the entire American population, rather than just the immigrant population, was considered when determining quotas. This shift significantly increased the proportion of visas available to individuals from the British Isles and Western Europe, as a large segment of the U.S. population traced their ancestry back to these regions. Conversely, this change further limited immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe.
The 1924 Immigration Act also included a provision that barred entry to any alien who was ineligible for citizenship based on race or nationality. Existing U.S. nationality laws, dating back to 1790 and 1870, explicitly excluded people of Asian descent from becoming naturalized citizens. Consequently, the 1924 Act extended this exclusion to immigration, effectively barring all Asian immigrants, including Japanese individuals who had previously been allowed entry under the Gentlemen’s Agreement. This blatant discrimination deeply offended Japan and was seen as a violation of the Gentlemen’s Agreement, leading to increased tensions between the two nations. Despite the diplomatic fallout, the U.S. Congress prioritized maintaining the perceived racial homogeneity of the country over fostering positive relations with Japan.
While the restrictive nature of the 1924 Act could have strained relations with European nations as well, this did not materialize for several reasons. The global economic depression of the 1930s, the outbreak of World War II, and stricter enforcement of existing U.S. immigration policies all contributed to a significant decline in European emigration. Following these crises, emergency provisions for the resettlement of displaced persons in 1948 and 1950 helped to mitigate potential conflicts arising from the restrictive immigration laws.
Ultimately, the core objective of the 1924 Immigration Act, in all its facets, was to preserve a specific vision of U.S. homogeneity by drastically curtailing immigration from certain regions and effectively excluding others based on nationality and race. Congress later revised the Act in 1952, but the legacy of the 1924 law as a defining moment in the history of U.S. immigration control remains significant.
