Limiting the Huddled Masses

The Immigration Act of 1924

Jun 25, 2007 Steve Sagarra

The Johnson-Reed Immigration Act of 1924, and its impact on immigration to the United States.

Following World War I, the United States faced an influx of immigrants. The war and the collapse of the Hapsburg Empire created numerous refugees, particularly from Eastern Europe. The situation came to a head with the passage of the Johnson-Reed Immigration Act of 1924. Popularly known as the National Origins Act, it limited the number of immigrants to 2% of those already residing in the United States from that particular country of origin as shown in the 1890 census – a decrease from the 3% allowed under the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 utilizing the 1910 census. As a result, the act manifestly discriminated against immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe, favoring instead those from northern countries that had higher population figures in the U.S. prior to 1900. Further, it completely barred immigration from Asia under the Asian Exclusion Act.

Arguments For Restriction

In 1916, American lawyer and eugenicist Madison Grant published the book, The Passing of the Great Race. In its pages, Grant outlined his anthro-historical interpretation of civilization based on racial and nativist doctrines. He advocated restrictions on immigration, particularly from Southern and Eastern Europe, and the purification of the American population through selective breeding to reverse the alleged spread of inferior stock throughout the United States. Despite criticisms from prominent scientists like anthropologist Franz Boas, the book became an immensely popular work that influenced politicians around the country to endorse legislation like the National Origins Act.

Between 1865 - 1920, immigration trends shifted from Western Europe (Great Britain, Germany, Netherlands) to Southern and Eastern Europe (Italy, Poland, the Balkan states). This trend alarmed the mainly Protestant “old immigrants,” who felt threatened by the mainly Catholic “new immigrants.” Nativist organizations, utilizing the works of Grant and similar others, successfully pressured the United States government to enact laws – such as literacy tests and quota systems – to curb what they saw as a demoralizing and worsening situation for the country. Such efforts culminated in the passage of the National Origins Act in 1924.

Though a small percentage dissented in their votes against the National Origins Act, the majority agreed with South Carolina Senator Ellison DuRant Smith:

“It seems to me the point as to this measure – and I have been so impressed for several years – is that the time has arrived when we should shut the door. We have been called the melting pot of the world. We had an experience just a few years ago, during the great World War, when it looked as though we had allowed influences to enter our borders that were about to melt the pot in place of us being the melting pot.” (Speech by Senator Smith before 68th Congress, Congressional Record, vol. 65, pp. 5961–5962)

Opposition To Restrictions

One vocal opponent of the act was Congressman Emanuel Celler, a Democrat from Brooklyn, New York. Latching onto the debate in his first term in 1923, immigration policy became a personal crusade for him during his Congressional career. Strongly opposed to the measure, Celler fought against it for four of his six decades in Congress. As the act prevented many southern and eastern Europeans, attempting to flee the Nazis, from immigrating to the U.S. during the 1930s and 40s, he advocated, in opposition to the policies of the Roosevelt Administration, that the United States relax immigration laws on an emergency basis. Rebutted by what he considered an apathetic attitude toward these political refugees, his efforts were for naught.

However, Celler’s persistent opposition to the National Origins Act eventually came to fruition when Congressional restructuring of immigration policy in the 1960s – specifically the Hart-Celler Act – abolished the law in 1965.

References:

Daniels, Roger. Guarding the Golden Door: American Immigration Policy and Immigrants Since 1882. New York: Hill and Wang, 2004.

Ngai, Mae M. "The Architecture of Race in American Immigration Law: A Reexamination of the Immigration Act of 1924." Journal of American History 86, no. 1 (1999): pp. 67-92.

Tichenor, Daniel J. Dividing Lines: The Politics of Immigration Control in America. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002.

Zolberg, Aristide. A Nation By Design: Immigration Policy In the Fashioning of America. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2006

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