During the 1800s and early 1900s, millions of people immigrated to the United States. The mostly unrestricted “open door” policy slammed shut during the mid-1920s once Congress passed a series of immigration quotas. After policies changed, the numbers and origins of immigrants changed dramatically.
The decision to restrict mass immigration to the United States in the 1920s stands out as a pivotal event impacting United States immigration over the past century. This article delves into the significant implications of this policy change on the United States population. Did your family immigrate to the United States in the 1920s? Search for their names in our records.
How Did Immigration Trends Change During the 1920s?
In the 75 years before World War I, the number of immigrants to the United States rose sharply. In the 1850s, only about 2.2 million foreign-born people lived in the country. That figure doubled within 10 years and climbed steadily until it peaked in the 1930s, when about 14.2 million of the nation’s residents had been born abroad.
During the 1920s, immigration trends in the United States changed in two ways. First, numbers leveled out and then fell dramatically—fewer than 700,000 people arrived during the following decade. Second, although Europeans continued to constitute most new arrivals, the most common places of origin shifted from Southern and Eastern Europe to Western Europe.
How Did Nativism Impact Immigration in the 1920s?
Societal tension was one of the main driving forces behind changes to United States immigration law in the 1920s. Nativist ideologies became more prevalent, especially in northern cities, which had a higher population of immigrants compared to Southern areas.
What Is Nativism?
Nativism is an attitude that favors native people born within a country, or established inhabitants, over its immigrant residents.
During the early 1900s, growing numbers of United States citizens expressed nativist attitudes. Anti-immigration sentiment increased after World War I. Soldiers returned home looking for jobs just as a fresh surge of job-seeking immigrants also arrived. Among some, ethnic prejudice fueled nativist feelings.
What Immigration Laws and Policies Were Changed in the 1920s?
Anti-immigration sentiment resulted in a series of increasingly restrictive immigration laws. Laws dating to the 1880s already barred Chinese immigrants. As far back as the 1790s, the United States had passed laws restricting immigration. One of the more significant laws restricting immigration in the United States was the Immigration Act of 1917. This act banned all immigration from the Middle East and much of Asia. All immigrants were required to pass a literacy test.
Immigration Act of 1917
In addition to requiring literacy tests, the Immigration Act of 1917, also known as the Asiatic Barred Zone Act, restricted or banned immigration from specific geographic zones. These zones primarily targeted people from countries in Asia and the Pacific, reflecting widespread anti-immigrant sentiments of the time.
The act also further expanded the list of inadmissible classes of people, including those who were unaccompanied by their parents or considered mentally deficient. These restrictions significantly limited the number of immigrants allowed into the country and established the foundation for further tightening of immigration laws in subsequent years.
Despite being directly linked to anti-Asian bias and eugenics-inspired ideals of that time, this law showcased how swiftly immigration policies could be altered to reflect changing political or social attitudes.
Emergency Quota Law
In 1921, Congress passed the Emergency Quota Law, which drastically scaled back the number of entries to the country. With the aim of restricting immigration and preserving the country's demographic composition, this law once again imposed strict quotas on immigrants from specific countries.
An annual quota was set at 3 percent of the number of immigrants in the 1910 census (about 358,000 people total). The quota was divided proportionately according to the birthplaces of the foreign-born listed in the 1910 census. This quota was meant to ensure that the nation would continue to have similar ethnic demographics as in the past.
The Emergency Quota Law had a significant impact on the cultural landscape of the United States. By favoring immigration from Western European countries and restricting others, it reinforced existing prejudices and racial hierarchies, impacting the lives of many immigrants living in the United States at the time.
Immigration Act of 1924
The Immigration Act of 1924, also known as the Johnson-Reed Act, reduced the quota to 2 percent. While supporters argued that this percentage would preserve the country's ethnic homogeneity, it resulted in a biased and discriminatory system that favored immigrants from Northern and Western European countries, including Britain and Ireland, while completely prohibiting Asians, including Japanese, who had not been previously restricted.
The approval process moved from United States ports of entry to offices in the places of departure, where hopeful immigrants applied for visas. The changes in 1924 contributed to the closure of Ellis Island in New York City, which had once been the largest immigrant processing station in the nation.
How Were Immigrants Treated in the 1920s?
In the 1920s, immigrants faced significant challenges in the United States as they sought to establish themselves in society. Following World War I, in addition to these severely restrictive laws, hostility toward immigrants intensified because of economic insecurity during this period, further fueling anti-immigrant sentiments and xenophobia. Many immigrants were subjected to discriminatory practices and prejudice in employment, housing, and public services despite their vital contributions to various industries and communities across the United States.
This era marked a tumultuous time for immigrants in the United States grappling with systemic discrimination and hardship. Cultural differences, religious beliefs, and language barriers between natives and immigrants all contributed to the difficulty.
Where Can I Find Records About Immigrants in the 1920s?
Passenger Arrival Lists
Immigrant passenger arrival lists for the 1920s are searchable by port of arrival. These records preserved detailed information about passengers, including their visa numbers (once that process went into effect). Visa files from the United States government are available from the years 1924 to 1944, and they may reveal additional information about immigrant ancestors.
Naturalization Records
You may also find later records about immigrants. Some may have applied for citizenship. Their naturalization files may include various types of documents pertaining to their arrival, in addition to their petitions for citizenship.
Other Records
Later, during World War II, anyone who wasn’t a citizen had to fill out detailed alien registration forms. If your relatives were of Japanese, German, or Italian origin, they may have been detained in internment camps during World War II, and additional records or histories may exist.
How Can I Learn about the Immigrant Experience of the 1920s?
Millions of immigrants in the early 1900s lived in urban areas, often near their ports of arrival. (By one estimate, immigrants and their children constituted 75 percent of New York City’s population in 1910.) Others migrated to areas where their labor was sought in particular industries, such as mining or automobile production. In some areas, immigrants clustered together in neighborhood enclaves, where they worshiped, shopped, and socialized together.
You can sometimes learn about these ethnic communities in local histories or from heritage groups that have preserved their stories. To learn about the specific experiences of your ancestors, ask your older relatives about family stories, memories, and documents. Trace your immigrant ancestors in United States censuses, newspapers, and other historical records.
Where Do My Immigrant Ancestors Come From?
With a free FamilySearch account, you can see the birthplaces of your ancestors who are in the shared family tree on a map. You can see the locations of their main life events for up to 8 generations, view a time line, and even explore more about the countries your ancestors came from.
