Emergency Quota Act
Great Seal of the United States
Other short titles
  • Emergency Immigration Act of 1921
  • Immigration Restriction Act of 1921
  • Johnson Quota Act
Long titleAn Act to limit the immigration of migrants into the United States.[1]
NicknamesPer Centum Limit Act
Enacted bythe 67th United States Congress
EffectiveMay 19, 1921
Citations
Public lawPub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 67–5
Statutes at Large42 Stat. 5
Legislative history
  • Introduced in the House as H.R. 4075 by Albert Johnson (R-WA)
  • Passed the House on April 22, 1921 (passed voice vote)
  • Passed the Senate on May 3, 1921 (90-2)
  • Reported by the joint conference committee on May 5, 1921; agreed to by the House on May 13, 1921 (285-41) and by the Senate on May 13, 1921 (agreed)
  • Signed into law by President Warren G. Harding on May 19, 1921

The Emergency Quota Act, also known as the Emergency Immigration Act of 1921, the Immigration Restriction Act of 1921, the Per Centum Law, and the Johnson Quota Act (ch. 8, 42 Stat. 5 of May 19, 1921), was formulated mainly in response to the large influx of Southern and Eastern Europeans and restricted their immigration to the United States. Although intended as temporary legislation, it "proved, in the long run, the most important turning-point in American immigration policy"[2] because it added two new features to American immigration law: numerical limits on immigration and the use of a quota system for establishing those limits, which came to be known as the National Origins Formula.

The Emergency Quota Act restricted the number of immigrants admitted from any country annually to 3% of the number of residents from that country living in the United States as of the 1910 Census.[3] That meant that people from Northern and Western Europe had a higher quota and were more likely to be admitted to the US than those from Eastern or Southern Europe or from non-European countries.

However, professionals were to be admitted without regard to their country of origin. Also, no limits were set on immigration from Canada, Newfoundland, Cuba, Mexico, or the countries of Central America and South America or "adjacent islands." The act did not apply to countries with bilateral agreements with the US or to Asian countries listed in the Immigration Act of 1917, known as the Asiatic Barred Zone Act.[1]

The Immigration Act of 1924 reduced the quota to 2% of countries' representation in the 1890 census, when a fairly small percentage of the population was from the regions some regarded as less than desirable. To execute the new quota, a visa system was implemented in 1924.[4] It mandated non-citizens seeking to enter the US to obtain and present a visa obtained from a US embassy or consulate before arriving in the US.[5] The visa regulations were later substantially revised by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 and ultimately replaced by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. Non-citizens of the U.S. who are citizens or nationals of 40 countries are currently exempted from a visa requirement under the Visa Waiver Program.

Immigration inspectors differently handle visa packets depending on whether they are non-immigrant (visitor) or immigrant (permanent admission).[5] Under the original, unmodified law, non-immigrant visas were kept at the ports of entry and were later destroyed, but immigrant visas were sent to the Central Office, in Washington, DC, for processing and filing.[5]

Based on the new formula, the number of new immigrants admitted fell from 805,228 in 1920 to 309,556 in 1921–22.[6] The average annual inflow of immigrants prior to 1921 was 175,983 from Northern and Western Europe and 685,531 from other countries, mainly Southern and Eastern Europe. In 1921, there was a drastic reduction in immigration levels from other countries, principally Southern and Eastern Europe.

The act, sponsored by US Representative Albert Johnson (R-Washington),[7] was passed without a recorded vote in the US House of Representatives and by a vote of 90-2-4 in the US Senate.[8]

The act was revised by the Immigration Act of 1924.

The use of the National Origins Formula continued until it was replaced by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which introduced a system of preferences, based on immigrants' skills and family relationships with US citizens or US residents.

Quotas by country under successive laws

Listed below are historical quotas on immigration from the Eastern Hemisphere, by country, as applied in given fiscal years ending June 30, calculated according to successive immigration laws and revisions from the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 to the final quota year of 1965. The 1922 and 1925 systems based on dated census records of the foreign-born population were intended as temporary measures, and were replaced by the 1924 Act's National Origins Formula based on the 1920 Census of the total U.S. population, effective July 1, 1929.[9][10][11][12][13][14]

Annual National Quota Act of 1921Act of 1924Act of 1952
1922[lower-alpha 1] % 1925[lower-alpha 2] % 1930[lower-alpha 3] % 1965[lower-alpha 4] %
 Albania 288 0.08% 100 0.06% 100 0.07% 100 0.06%
 Armenia 230 0.06% 124 0.08% 100 0.07% 100 0.06%
 Austria 7,451 2.08% 785 0.48% 1,413 0.92% 1,405 0.89%
 Belgium 1,563 0.44% 512 0.31% 1,304 0.85% 1,297 0.82%
 Bulgaria 302 0.08% 100 0.06% 100 0.07% 100 0.06%
 Czechoslovakia 14,357 4.01% 3,073 1.87% 2,874 1.87% 2,859 1.80%
 Danzig 301 0.08% 228 0.14% 100 0.07%
 Denmark 5,619 1.57% 2,789 1.69% 1,181 0.77% 1,175 0.74%
 Estonia 1,348 0.38% 124 0.08% 116 0.08% 115 0.07%
 Finland 3,921 1.10% 471 0.29% 569 0.37% 566 0.36%
 Fiume 71 0.02%
 France 5,729 1.60% 3,954 2.40% 3,086 2.01% 3,069 1.94%
 Germany 67,607 18.90% 51,227 31.11% 25,957 16.89% 25,814 16.28%
 Greece 3,294 0.92% 100 0.06% 307 0.20% 308 0.19%
 Hungary 5,638 1.58% 473 0.29% 869 0.57% 865 0.55%
 Iceland 75 0.02% 100 0.06% 100 0.07% 100 0.06%
 Ireland [lower-alpha 5] 28,567 17.35% 17,853 11.61% 17,756 11.20%
 Italy 42,057 11.75% 3,854 2.34% 5,802 3.77% 5,666 3.57%
 Latvia 1,540 0.43% 142 0.09% 236 0.15% 235 0.15%
 Lithuania 2,460 0.69% 344 0.21% 386 0.25% 384 0.24%
 Luxembourg 92 0.03% 100 0.06% 100 0.07% 100 0.06%
 Netherlands 3,607 1.01% 1,648 1.00% 3,153 2.05% 3,136 1.98%
 Norway 12,202 3.41% 6,453 3.92% 2,377 1.55% 2,364 1.49%
 Poland 31,146 8.70% 5,982 3.63% 6,524 4.24% 6,488 4.09%
 Portugal 2,465 0.69% 503 0.31% 440 0.29% 438 0.28%
 Romania 7,419 2.07% 603 0.37% 295 0.19% 289 0.18%
 Russia /  Soviet Union [lower-alpha 6] 24,405 6.82% 2,248 1.37% 2,784 1.81% 2,697 1.70%
 Spain 912 0.25% 131 0.08% 252 0.16% 250 0.16%
 Sweden 20,042 5.60% 9,561 5.81% 3,314 2.16% 3,295 2.08%
  Switzerland 3,752 1.05% 2,081 1.26% 1,707 1.11% 1,698 1.07%
 Turkey 2,388 0.67% 100 0.06% 226 0.15% 225 0.14%
 United Kingdom [lower-alpha 5] 77,342 21.62% 34,007 20.65% 65,721 42.76% 65,361 41.22%
 Yugoslavia 6,426 1.80% 671 0.41% 845 0.55% 942 0.59%
 Australia and  New Zealand 359 0.10% 221 0.13% 200 0.13% 700 0.44%
Total from Europe 356,135 99.53% 161,546 98.10% 150,591 97.97% 149,697 94.41%
Total from Asia 1,066 0.30% 1,300 0.79% 1,323 0.86% 3,690 2.33%
Total from Africa 122 0.03% 1,200 0.73% 1,200 0.78% 4,274 2.70%
Total from all Countries 357,803 100% 164,667 100% 153,714 100% 158,561 100%
  1. ↑ Quota per country limited to 3% of the number of foreign-born persons of that nationality residing in the U.S. in the 1910 census (FY 1922–1924)
  2. ↑ Quota per country limited to 2% of the number of foreign-born persons of that nationality residing in the U.S. in the 1890 census (FY 1925–1929)
  3. ↑ Quota per nationality limited to a percentage share of 150,000 in a ratio proportional to the number of U.S. inhabitants of that national origin as a share of all U.S. inhabitants in the 1920 census (FY 1930–1952)
  4. ↑ Quota per nationality limited to one-sixth of 1% of the number of U.S. inhabitants of that national origin in the 1920 census (FY 1953–1965)
  5. 1 2 From 1921 to 1924, quota for United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland encompassed all of Ireland; after 1925, only Northern Ireland, with a separate quota created for the Irish Free State
  6. ↑ U.S.S.R. excluding regions falling under the Asiatic Barred Zone while in effect

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "1921 Emergency Quota Law (An Act to regulate the immigration of aliens to, and the residence of aliens in, the United States.)". US immigration legislation online. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  2. ↑ John Higham, Strangers in the Land (1963), 311
  3. ↑ Divine, Robert A. (2007) America, Past and Present, 8th ed., 736
  4. ↑ "Closing the Door on Immigration (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  5. 1 2 3 "Visa Files, July 1, 1924 - March 31, 1944". USCIS. 2016-02-09. Retrieved 2019-10-31.
  6. ↑ Robert K. Murray, The 103rd Ballot: Democrats and the Disaster in Madison Square Garden (NY: Harper & Row, 1976), 7
  7. ↑ "1921 Emergency Quota Act". American Catholic History Classroom. Archived from the original on 2012-01-21. Retrieved 2012-01-05.
  8. ↑ "Senate Vote #21 (May 3, 1921)". govtrack.us. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
  9. ↑ "Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1922" (PDF) (45th ed.). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. July 1923: 100–101. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 29, 2021. Retrieved August 10, 2021. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. ↑ "Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1924" (PDF) (47th ed.). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. July 1925: 83. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 28, 2021. Retrieved August 10, 2021. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. ↑ "Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1930" (PDF) (52nd ed.). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. July 1930: 102–105. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 26, 2021. Retrieved August 9, 2021. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  12. ↑ "Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1931" (PDF) (53rd ed.). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. August 1931: 103–107. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 29, 2021. Retrieved August 10, 2021. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. ↑ "Statistical Abstract of the United States: 1966" (PDF). Statistical Abstract of the United States ...: Finance, Coinage, Commerce, Immigration, Shipping, the Postal Service, Population, Railroads, Agriculture, Coal and Iron (87th ed.). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Bureau of the Census: 89–93. July 1966. ISSN 0081-4741. LCCN 04-018089. OCLC 781377180. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 28, 2021. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  14. ↑ Beaman, Middleton (July 1924). "Current Legislation: The Immigration Act of 1924". American Bar Association Journal. American Bar Association. 10 (7): 490–492. JSTOR 25709038. Retrieved August 10, 2021.

Further reading

  • Allerfeldt, Kristofer. "‘And We Got Here First’: Albert Johnson, National Origins and Self-Interest in the Immigration Debate of the 1920s." Journal of Contemporary History 45.1 (2010): 7–26.
  • Miller, Nathan. New World Coming. Cambridge: Da Capo Press, 2003
  • Higham, John. Strangers in the Land: Patterns of American Nativism. 2nd ed. New York: Atheneum, 1963. (First edition published by Rutgers University Press in 1955)
  • Jerry Elman, "The 'Holocaust' is Not the Right Focus!" Blog posted April 19, 2023. Accessed May 5, 2023
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