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HISTORY

The Claim

The Immigration Act of 1924 (Johnson–Reed Act) limited annual immigration for each nationality to 2% of the foreign-born population of that nationality living in the United States as recorded in the 1890 census.

Verified by Lenz ·

The Short Version

The evidence shows the claim accurately describes the quota formula established by the Immigration Act of 1924. The law set each nationality’s annual immigration quota at 2% of that nationality’s foreign-born population in the United States as counted in the 1890 census. Later changes to the quota system do not negate this description of the Act’s original formula.

Caveats

  • The claim describes the Act’s original quota formula; later amendments and implementation changes are separate issues.
  • This was only one part of the 1924 law, which also sharply restricted immigration from Asia and favored northern and western European nationalities.
  • The phrase “foreign-born population” matters; it refers to census counts of foreign-born persons of each nationality living in the United States, not total ancestry or overall population.

The Receipts

  1. Immigration Act of 1924

    Loveman.sdsu.edu (reproduction of U.S. statute text)

  2. Proclamation, June 30, 1924

    Calvin Coolidge Presidential Foundation

  3. REPORT [on immigration quotas under the 1924 Act]

    GovInfo (U.S. Government Publishing Office)

  4. U.S. Immigration Quotas

    DocsTeach (U.S. National Archives)

  5. Immigration Act of 1924 (Johnson-Reed Act)

    Immigration History (Immigration and Ethnic History Society project)

  6. What Did 1924's National Origins Quotas Really Accomplish?

    Center for Immigration Studies

  7. A Century Later, Restrictive 1924 U.S. Immigration Law Has Enduring Legacy

    Migration Policy Institute

  8. The Lasting Legacy of the Johnson-Reed Act

    Tenement Museum

  9. Immigration Act of 1924

    Wikipedia

  10. Immigration Act of 1924 Prohibits Immigration From Asia

    Equal Justice Initiative

+ 1 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

1890 United States CensusImmigration Act Of 1924Johnson–Reed ActUnited States

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