Immigration and American History:

The Twentieth Century

Dr. Marni DavisAssistant Professor of History

Georgia State University

1920s - 2000: Three

Frameworks

• Changes in federal immigration POLICY

• DEMOGRAPHIC transformations

• Evolution of ATTITUDES toward immigration and immigrants

After dinner: THE SOUTH

The closing of the gates …• 1921: Quota Act limited immigration

to 3% of nationality in U.S. in 1910• 1924: Johnson-Reed Act further

limited immigration by national origin (2% / 1890)

SAMPLE ANNUAL QUOTAS AFTER 1924Germany 51,227   Poland 5,982   Africa (except Egypt) 1,100 Great Britain 34,007   Italy 3,845   Armenia 124 Ireland 28,567   Hungary 473  Australia 121 Sweden 9,561   Russia 2,248   Palestine 100 Norway 6,453   Yugoslavia 671   Syria 100 France 3,954   Romania 603   Turkey 100

TOTAL ANNUAL IMMIGRANT QUOTA: 164,667

(http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5078/)

IMMIGRATION “WAVES” 1924-1964

1) Refugees1943: Chinese Exclusion Act repealed 1948: Displaced Persons Act (202,000

annually) Residents of Communist nations seeking

asylum

2) Transborder populations Quota Acts of 1920s did not restrict

migrants from Western HemisphereCanadians (1.4 million)Mexicans (840,000 immigrants; 4.7 million guest workers)

Why do immigrants emigrate?

The PUSH and the PULL PUSH• Cataclysm or crisis in home country• Persecution• Reduction of economic opportunity

PULL• Attraction of destination country• Reduced costs of migration• Economic opportunity: jobs, land• Chain migration (kin networks, neighbors)

http://www.museumca.org/picturethis/pictures/mexican-workers-are-seen-arriving-train-1942-part-bracero-program

MEXICANS IN THE U.S. 1920s-1960s

1920s: agricultural

migrant labor

1930s: 500,000 Mexicans

forcibly repatriated

Bracero Program (1942-

64)

Operation Wetback (1950-

55)

http://mexicanborder.web.unc.edu/the-bracero-program-3/

Immigration and Nationality Act (1965)

End of national origins quota system Raised number of visas from 150,000 to

290,000: max. 20,000 from any country Set visa ceilings for both Eastern and Western

Hemispheres Created preference for families of immigrants

already here and naturalized

The liberalization of immigration policy: reopening the gates

but alsoThe creation of the “illegal” Mexican

immigrant

Ten Countries with Largest Population in U.S. (as % of total foreign born)

1980 20001960

SOURCES

Migration Policy Institute:http://www.migrationinformation.org/datahub/

historicaltrends.cfm#source

New York Times Interactive Map:http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/03/10/us/20090310-immigration-

explorer.html