1920 S Q UOTA R ESTRICTION HIS 206

E MERGENCY Q UOTA R ESTRICTION A CT Emergency Quota Restriction Act (1921) pocket-vetoed by Wilson, but re-passed and signed into law by Warren G. Harding in May 3% of foreign-born of each nationality in 1910 census allowed in each year Minimum quota = 400 Total of all quotas = 387,803 Professionals, domestic servants, religious refugees & citizens of Western hemisphere nations exempt Act extended for 2 more years in 1922 Immediate enforcement of act created hardships that generated bad publicity for administration Steamships raced to port in first days of each month Ellis Island Commissioner Frederick Wallis resigned in protest Pres. Harding

J AMES J. D AVIS, S ECRETARY OF L ABOR Davis tried to give Immigration bureau to State Dept. in 1922, but Charles Evans Hughes didn’t want responsibility Davis wrote Selective Immigration or None (1924), endorsing eugenics Proposed “strict, but just tests of physical and mental health” Screening in Europe would avoid scrutiny by American courts & press Proposed registration of all aliens Warned that while “old” immigrants were “beavers,” “new” immigrants were “rats” Offered himself as “master puddler of humanity” James J. Davis

R EED -J OHNSON I MMIGRATION A CT Reed-Johnson Immigration Act (1924) set immigration policy for 28 years Overseas consular inspection instituted $9 visa fee added to $8 head tax Japanese excluded as “aliens ineligible to citizenship” Basis of quotas became 2% of 1890 census 1890 marked high point of German & Irish immigration Wives & kids of citizens, resident aliens, professionals & Western hemisphere immigrants exempt from quotas Within quotas, preference given to immediate family members & skilled agriculturalists Would change to “national origins” quotas in 1927 (delayed until 1929) Developed by John B. Trevor & introduced by Sen. David Reed Quotas were in same ratio to 150,000 as the number of inhabitants of that national origin were to the number of inhabitants in U.S. in 1920 Sec. of State, Labor & Commerce to prepare quotas Pres. Coolidge

C ALCULATING THE Q UOTAS Quota Board chaired by Dr. Joseph A. Hill 2 representatives each from State, Labor & Commerce Samuel Boggs prepared memo explaining methods Hard to assign quotas due to newly created countries & changed borders after World War I “National Origins” based on assumptions White population est. to be 90 million Foreign-born not identified by country of origin until 1850; children not distinguished until 1890 “Original native stock” est. at 41 million Marcus Hansen & Howard Barker lowered est. of 1790 British pop. from 82% to 60%, but quota board only lowered est. by 10.4% Assumptions led to over-representation of British

Q UOTA C OMPARISON 1890 Census Quotas: Britain: 34,007 Germany: 51,227 Ireland: 28,567 Sweden: 9,561 Norway: 6,453 Italy: 3,845 Poland: 5,982 Russia: 2,248 Czechoslovakia: 3,073 National Origins Quotas: Britain: 65,721 Germany: 25,957 Ireland: 17,853 Sweden: 3,314 Norway: 2,377 Italy: 5,802 Poland: 6,524 Russia: 2,784 Czechoslovakia: 2,874

“L EAVING THE B ACK D OOR O PEN ”

H OOVER & THE G REAT D EPRESSION Hoover called for return to 1890 census quotas in 1928 campaign tried to avoid issuing National Origins quotas in 1929 Asked Congress to repeal them State Dept. began using LPC clause to exclude virtually all immigrants in 1930 Began with Mexicans in March Supreme Court ruled in Gegiow v. Uhl (1915) that Immigration Bureau couldn’t use LPC clause to keep out immigrants based on labor conditions at port of entry Courts consistently upheld State Dept’s discretionary power to issue visas, however Pres. Hoover