Description
America’s immigration laws enacted between 1875 and 1924 were the most prejudicial in US history. Beginning with the Page Act (1875) which marked the end of the nation’s policy of open borders, the following 50 years witnessed a series of legislative acts aimed at preventing specific ethnic nationals from entering the United Stated as legal immigrants. The Chinese were the first to be singled out with the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. This Act was followed by a steady flow of exclusionary laws, culminating in 1924 with the National Origins Quota Act which effectively curtailed immigration to the US from southern and eastern Europe. This lecture will detail why and how America’s immigration policies went awry.
