Immigration Act of 1917 (aka the Asiatic Barred Zone Act)
We all know that one of the main issues that has plagued the last several Congresses has been illegal immigration. The furor mostly surrounds the flow of immigrants across the Mexican border into the US. The immigrants are not only from Mexico, but other countries of Central America. In spite of what we think, America has not always had open arms to all LEGAL immigrants either! The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 barred Chinese from entering the US, and The Gentlemen’s Agreement of 1907 was made with Japan to regulate Japanese immigration to the US. Today is the 98th anniversary of the passing an immigration act, that closed the doors to legal immigration to a large part of Asia……from Wikipedia…..
On February 5, 1917, the United States Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1917 (also known as the Asiatic Barred Zone Act) with an overwhelming majority, overriding President Woodrow Wilson‘s December 14, 1916, veto. This act added to the number of undesirables banned from entering the country, including but not limited to “homosexuals”, “idiots”, “feeble-minded persons”, “criminals”, “epileptics”, “insane persons”, alcoholics, “professional beggars”, all persons “mentally or physically defective”, polygamists, and anarchists. Furthermore, it barred all immigrants over the age of sixteen who were illiterate. The most controversial part of the law was the section that designated an “Asiatic Barred Zone”, a region that included much of Asia and the Pacific Islands from which people could not immigrate. Previously, only the Chinese had been excluded from admission to the country. Attempts at introducing literacy tests were previously vetoed by Grover Cleveland in 1897 and William Taft in 1913. Wilson also objected to this clause in the Immigration Act, but it was still passed by Congress on the fourth attempt. Read More
So lt’s find out what countries were inluded in this Immigration Act…..
Wow – We can see that this act barred immigratin from the majority of western China,and all of the Middle East and India.If you throw in the earlier acts, after this act it seems that th US had barred immigration from ALL of Asia. While a few conservatives would almost certainly agree with this ban, bcause it would have barred many Muslim immigrants from entering the US,I say where would we be without the contributions to our society made by immigrants from India, Iran, Lebanon (no Danny Thomas) even Israel falls with in the barred zone!
Anyway luckily for the US these immigration acts were modified….from Wikipedia
The Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed in 1943. The Luce-Celler Act of 1946 ended discrimination against Asian Indians and Filipinos, who were accorded the right to naturalization, and allowed a quota of 100 immigrants per year. The Immigration Act of 1917 was later altered formally by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, known as the McCarran-Walter Act. It extended the privilege of naturalization to Japanese, Koreans, and other Asians.[2] The McCarran-Walter Act revised all previous laws and regulations regarding immigration, naturalization, and nationality, and collected into one comprehensive statute.
Like many Americans the majority of my ancestors came to America in the mid to late 1800s and the early 1900s. They arrived from Europe though (England, Ireland,Switzerland, and Germany) though so while I’m sure families like my Irish McCloskey’s faced hardship due to their nationality, their way to American citizenship was not blocked by a ban like the one above or like today’s proposed immigration rules. American should be the home of the free and open to all peaceful, law-abiding people, rgardless of their country of origin or religion!