List of United States Immigration Legislation - 1900s, Pre-World War II

1900s, Pre-World War II

• The Immigration Act of 1903, also called the Anarchist Exclusion Act
• The Naturalization Act of 1906 standardized naturalization procedures, made some knowledge of English a requirement for citizenship, and established the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization
• The Immigration Act of 1917 (Barred Zone Act) restricted immigration from Asia by creating an "Asiatic Barred Zone" and introduced a reading test for all immigrants over 14 years of age, with certain exceptions for children, wives and elderly family members.
• The Immigration Act of 1918, expanding on the provisions of the Anarchist Exclusion Act
• The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 restricted annual immigration from a given country to 3% of the number of people from that country living in the U.S. in 1910
• The Immigration Act of 1924 aimed at freezing the current ethnic distribution in response to rising immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe, as well as Asia. Introduced nationality quotas.
• The National Origins Formula was established with the Immigration act of 1924. Total annual immigration was capped at 150,000. Immigrants fit into two categories: those from quota-nations and those from non-quota nations. Immigrant visas from quota-nations were restricted to the same ratio of residents from the country of origin out of 150,000 as the ratio of foreign-born nationals in the United States. The percentage out of 150,000 was the relative number of visas a particular nation received. Non-quota nations, notably those contiguous to the United States only had to prove an immigrant's residence in that country of origin for at least two years prior to emigration to the U.S. Laborers from Asiatic nations were excluded but exceptions existed for professionals, clergy and students to obtain visas.