Learn about immigration in the U.S. Explore the history of immigration, including examples of relevant legislation, like the Immigration Act of 1917, and restrictions.
Updated: 11/21/2023
U.S. Immigration Act of 1917 | Overview, Restrictions & Effects
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Frequently Asked Questions
When was the Asiatic Barred Zone lifted?
This Asiatic Barred Zone was not lifted until the 1950s, at which time many migrants from East Asia began entering the country. All migration restrictions specific to Asia were finally ended in the 1960s.
What was the effect of the Immigration Act of 1917?
The effect of the Immigration Act of 1917 was that Europeans were limited from entering the United States for the first time in history. This was done by making immigrants pass a literacy test. More significantly, people from almost all countries in Asia were completely barred from migrating to the United States.
Table of Contents
ShowAs early as the 1840s, large numbers of immigrants began to flow into the U.S., as well as other countries in the Western Hemisphere, such as Argentina. This migration necessitated greater organization, and in 1890, Ellis Island became a federal immigration station for the U.S. During this period, people from across the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans sought to find opportunity and a new life in the U.S. However, these large waves of immigrants sparked negative sentiments in established residents of the country.
Groups of Americans who felt that this new era of migration was harming their own economic opportunities began to advocate for nativism. Nativism is the idea that the Americans born in the U.S. should be protected by government policies designed to favor natural-born U.S. citizens as opposed to newly migrated citizens. By the 1880s, a number of these nativist policies existed.
For example, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in 1882. This act prevented the migration of almost all Chinese people into the U.S. This policy stemmed from a belief held by citizens in places like California that these laborers were bad for the economic opportunities of natural-born Americans. During the early 1900s, President Theodore Roosevelt made nativism a central focus of his presidency. However, it was not until the war-time fervor of World War I that any additional immigration restrictions would be passed.
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While European migrants, including those from Germany, Italy, and Eastern Europe, were the targets of early nativism in the 1800s, by the turn of the 20th century Asian migrants were the primary target of nativist sentiment. Some Americans felt that gains made by Asian people represented a major threat to their way of life, and with added political resolve surrounding World War I, major immigration restrictions became law for the first time since the Chinese Exclusion Act.
The United States was deciding whether it would enter into World War I, and at the same time, Congress voted by a large majority to support a bill that would require a literacy test from those coming into the U.S. from Europe. The bill would also stop all migration into the country from Asian countries, with Japan being the sole exception to this rule. Woodrow Wilson, who was president at the time, vetoed the bill, but by February of 1917 Congress had overruled his veto. The Immigration Act of 1917 was the first limitation placed on European migration in the country's history. However, it had even further-reaching effects in Asia.
Those barred from entering the U.S. after the passage of this act included:
- Europeans over the age of 16 who could not read
- People who were openly homosexual
- Anyone with a disability
- Anyone from Southeast Asia
- Most Pacific Islanders
- Anyone from South Asia
The Immigration Act of 1917 effectively prevented individuals from most countries in Asia from migrating into the U.S. While it prevented illiterate Europeans from entering the U.S. as well, the Act mainly gave the U.S. more power to deny migrants based on qualities deemed undesirable. This meant that far fewer migrants could seek opportunity in the United States than had in previous decades. In the wake of World War I, these limitations prevented large-scale post-war migration into the country.
What is the Asiatic Barred Zone?
The Asiatic Barred Zone is a provision included in the Immigration Act of 1917 that prohibits any migration from a majority of Asian countries. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, migrants from China and other Asian countries had made many gains in the United States. Starting as laborers, many of them were able to start businesses or farms and become wealthier than other Americans. This was a source of resentment for many in the United States who hoped to enjoy more prosperity in their own lives.
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The Asiatic Barred Zone provision was not lifted until the 1950s, and special restrictions on migration from Asia continued until the 1960s.
What Were the Effects?
The primary effect of the Immigration Act of 1917 was that the people who were in the most need of opportunity were no longer able to come to the country. Millions of migrants had come to the United States in order to work hard and build a better life for their children. However, at a time when the United States was trying to modernize, many in the U.S. believed that having millions of illiterate migrants would potentially put a strain on the economy.
While this Act also lessened the number of European migrants who came into the United States, it completely eliminated all migrations from Asia and lowered the number of migrants that were arriving in the United States considerably.
The Aftermath
Initially, the Immigration Act of 1917 limited the ability of Mexican agricultural workers to come into the country. However, once the U.S. joined WWI just months after this Act, these particular restrictions were loosened in order to facilitate the production of food during war-time.
The Act also omitted Japan from the Asiatic Barred Zone due to the presence of the Gentleman's Agreements of 1907. This was an informal agreement between Japan and the United States in which Japan guaranteed it would not allow Japanese migrants to go to the U.S. if the U.S. in turn did not officially restrict Japanese entrance into the country. Immediately after the passage of the Act, Japan appeared to have a special status amongst Asian nations in the eyes of the United States.
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The Immigration Act of 1917 was the beginning of a decades-long trend to limit as much migration into the United States as possible. Presidential administrations in the 1920s embraced the nativist perspective, and this was demonstrated in 1921 with the Emergency Quota Act of 1921. Many Americans were worried about mass migration from Europe into the U.S. after World War II because of how devastated European countries were after the conflict. This Act limited migration from every country to 3% of the number of migrants from that country based on the 1910 census. This meant that if 100,000 migrants from Poland lived in the United States in 1910, only 3,000 Polish migrants would be allowed in the country every year.
This Act was followed by the Immigration Act of 1924, which made two major changes to the country's immigration policy:
- The Immigration quota was lowered to 2% based on the 1890 census, which would favor countries like Italy and Germany, who had many migrants during the mid-1800s. This would limit even more the migration of eastern European nations, where migrants did not start coming to the United States until later.
- Japan was included in the Asiatic Barred Zone. Even though it was on the victorious side in World War I, the U.S. government decided to include it in the Zone. This was the result of anti-Japanese sentiments in states like California, because Japanese immigrants had built large and profitable farms in the state. Despite this success, many Americans grew resentful of this progress and politicians responded by breaking the gentleman's agreement of 1907. This resulted in heightened tensions between the two global powers.
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Large waves of migration into the U.S. in the late 1800s and early 1900s resulted in nativist sentiments developing within established residents. This sentiment led to the creation of a number of laws designed to restrict immigration, beginning with the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. This trend of greater management of migration necessitated the construction of a federal immigration station on Ellis Island in 1890. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, migration from all Asian countries was severely limited, especially with the passage of the Immigration Act of 1917. This act established an Asiatic Barred Zone, which stopped almost all people from Asia from migrating to the U.S. By the time of the passage of the Immigration Act of 1924, it was clear that these Acts were designed to give the U.S. government power to limit the migration of those they deemed undesirable into the country.
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Video Transcript
Immigration
We humans tend to have some pretty unattractive traits. For instance, we don't like to share. To prove this point, let's take a look at the United States' immigration controls from 1882 to 1924.
Now most of us in the U.S. can trace our heritage to other countries. For instance, my family is from England and my husband's family is from Germany. Putting it plainly, America is really a nation of immigrants, people who leave their home country and settle in another. Despite this, U.S. history books are full of instances when America treated immigrants rather poorly. A great example of this is the 19th century treatment of Chinese immigrants.
Chinese Exclusion & Ellis Island
During the 19th century, Chinese immigrants flooded into the U.S. Many came to the Western U.S. in search of gold and employment. Sadly, the people of the West saw the Chinese as interlopers out to steal their jobs. Whether true or not, they felt the large supply of Chinese workers had caused wages to drop.
When the complaints of these people reached Washington, it responded with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. As the first noteworthy law limiting immigration into the United States, it limited Chinese immigration into the U.S. for 10 years. It also declared that Chinese immigrants could not become citizens. Although the Chinese living in America tried to challenge the law, things just got worse. In 1902, Chinese immigration became permanently illegal. This prejudiced act remained in force until 1943!
Immigration control didn't stop with the Chinese Exclusion Act. By the end of the 1880s, immigrants into the U.S. totaled over 5 million. As a means to control these numbers, the early 1890s saw Ellis Island commissioned as the federal immigration station. No longer were immigrants allowed to enter at any port. They had to register at Ellis Island.
1917 Immigration Act
In order to restrict immigration even further, the U.S. adopted the 1917 Immigration Act. It imposed a higher tax on immigrants entering the country. In addition, it forced immigrants over the age of 16 to pass a literacy test.
Hitting the Eastern Hemisphere hard, the 1917 Immigration Act also made immigration from certain latitudes and longitudes bordering Asia illegal. With this, the act also went by the name, the Asiatic Barred Zone Act. Regardless of what it's called, it centered on keeping so-called 'undesirables' out of the country. It also set the stage for the Immigration Act of 1924.
Immigration Act of 1924
The Immigration Act of 1924 set a quota on immigrants from individual countries. It used the 1890 national census to determine how many immigrants were in the country as well as their individual countries of origin. It then limited immigration to 2% of that number. To make it simple, if the 1890 census counted 100 Russian immigrants, then the 1924 Act limited immigration to 2% of 100, which is 2. Again, picking on the Eastern Hemisphere, it completely excluded all immigration from Asia.
Lesson Summary
Immigrants are those who leave their home country and settle in another. Throughout the years from 1882 to 1924, the U.S. placed many restrictions on immigration.
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 limited Chinese immigration into the U.S. for 10 years. It also dictated that Chinese immigrants could not become citizens. The Chinese Exclusion Act remained in force until 1943.
In order to control and document immigration, Ellis Island was commissioned as a federal immigration station in the early 1890s.
The 1917 Immigration Act imposed a higher tax on immigrants entering the country. It forced immigrants over the age of 16 to pass a literacy test. Known also as the Asiatic Barred Zone Act, it also made immigration from certain latitudes and longitudes bordering Asia illegal.
The Immigration Act of 1924 set a quota on immigrants from individual countries to 2% of the number recorded from the 1890 census.
Learning Outcomes
As you come to the end of the video, you should be able to:
- Examine Chinese immigration in the 19th century and how Americans felt about it
- Describe the significance of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
- Recall the purpose of Ellis Island
- Discuss the purpose of the 1917 Immigration Act and recall its alternative name
- Explain the Immigration Act of 1924
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