Essay On 1920s And 1970s Immigration Policy

Throughout the 1920 to 1970s, there were shifts in immigration policies that reflect the changes of American ideology; however, there were some aspects that fundamentally remain the same. Main factors that shifted American ideology, which then shifts immigration policies, was the rise of nativism and the aftermath of WWII, yet the classification of wanted and unwanted immigrants was still present. In the 1920s there was an increasing number of immigrants entering the U.S which unsettled most old-stock Americans and led to the rise of anti-immigrant sentiment. Congress acted and passed the National Origins Act in 1924. The purpose of the national origins act was to reduce the number of immigrants specifically immigrants coming from southern

Postwar America was marked by mass hysteria of communism. The Cold War anticommunism stirred fear of “foreign enemies” invading the U.S which amplified the opposition to immigration reform and favored strict limits on alien admissions and rights (Stranger, 179). This allowed isolationist to push national quotas. Through the 1940s and 50s, restrictionists had the upper hand regarding immigration, especially since most of Congress oppose immigration. Restrictionist wanted to increase immigration exclusion with the intention to protect “the country from agents of international communist conspiracy” (Stranger, 179). In fact, in the early 1950s immigration legislation was passed that “reaffirmed national origins quotas and established new restrictions against security threats” (Stranger,

In this period there was a political shift; in congress, there were more “liberal Democrats and moderate Republicans”, and the president played a more active role in regards to immigration (Strangers, 181). Congress majority being in favor of immigration reform and the president interest to expand immigration eventually led to policy changes. There are multiple reasons why it was in the state interest to include immigrants. A major reason has to with how the U.S wanted to be perceived to the outside world, especially after WWII. One of the reasons is that the U.S needed allies, which could be accomplish if they demonstrate that the U.S is multicultural and accepts