A Research On American Immigration Policy During 1920s

The United States is a typical immigrant country. From the early days to the end of nineteenth century, America has been the i mplementation of free imm igration policy. However, from 1880 s,with the s ource of imm igration changes and the development of racialism,the de mand for restrictions on immigration are growing fast.Eventually,the immigration quota system are formed in 1920 s.So,a large wave of immigration has been curb ed.American immigration policy during 1920 s m ainly covers three I mmigration Act,namely the Immi gration Act of 1921,1924,1929.This paper mainly discusses the historical back ground, main contents and ef fects of the three immigration acts.Comparison of the old a nd new imm igrants, xenophobia, assimilation theory and racism is the important factors, and all these factors around the core point is to keep the American ethnic homogeneity, which is three immigration bill's main aim.Immigration policy in the United States in the 1920 s is conducive to maintaining the basic American ethnic composition, and promoted the development of American capitalism, but also caused a lot of problems, the American government had to in the post World War II began to adjust the immigration quota system.The preface explains the reason a nd significance of res earching the three immigration law,and analyzes the present research in do mestics and overseas,and introduces the key and innovation of the thesis.The main text is divided into five chapters:Chapter one reviews the immigration policy of the United States from early days to the end of nineteenth century.from a long-term perspective to analyze the development of Am erican immigration policy.During this period,on account of the contradiction between the huge land ar ea and s mall population,America m ainly carried out the libe ral immigration policy.However,after the introdu ction of the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Am erican immigration policy gradually changes to the immigration restriction.Chapter two illustrates the historical background and content of the Immigration Act of 1921.Although it is a temporary legislation, the bill created a precedent for the quota system, which laid the foundation for th e future legislation.The changes of the origin of European immigrants and the econom ic situation at that time were the main factors of the immigration law.The act of 1921 provides that the annual quota is fixed at three percent of the num ber of foreign-born of each nationality in this country in 1910.Chapter three briefly describes the Immigration Act of 1924, including the debate in Congress, the development of racism and the contents of the bill. 1924 immigration law is a perm anent restriction of immigr ation law,which is the foundation of the immigration quota system, of which the visa system is still used today.The act of 1924 provides that the annual quota is fixed at two percent of the number of foreign-born of each nationality in this country in 1890.Chapter four discusses the Imm igration Act of 1929, which provides that the quota system should be based on the national origins of the Am erican population,focusing on the historical background of the bill, which m ainly covers the debate of the national origin clause in th e Congress and the debate process, and the reports of immigration committee. The outcome of this debate is to retain the national origin clause.Thus,The imm igration quota system based on the national origin has been improved.Chapter five m akes a general comment on t he American immigration policy during 1920 s,mainly from two as pects:the function and the lim itation.The three immigration laws have played an i mportant role in reducing the num ber of immigrants, changing the structure of th e immigrant occupation.However,there are also limitations, such as racial discrimination, contradiction and lacking of scientific.