| 1875-1882 |
| In 1875, the first federal legislation was enacted that banned convicts, prostitutes, and coolies (Chinese contract laborers) (Ellis Island Museum 2009).
It was expanded in 1882 to include lunatics, idiots, and people likely to become a “public charge.” The last point would allow the government to reject potential immigrants that were not able to support themselves and would rely on the government for subsistence. This was controversial because the language was not clear-cut and created the chance for arbitrary decisions. One group against this was the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. In addition, it was agreed upon that transportation companies would be responsible for returning excluded foreigners (Howe 2005:53).
At the same time, the Chinese Exclusion Act was enacted. This was the first time an entire group was ever excluded from immigration. It was intended to last for 10 years (Ellis Island Museum 2009). |
Picture Taken at Ellis Island |
| 1885-1891 |
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In 1885, contract laborers were banned. This did not significantly affect the Jews (Howe 2005:53).
In 1891, the exclusion of “paupers or persons likely to become a public charge” was more firmly set.
This time around, it was harder for immigrants to prove they would earn a living, when at the same time the U.S. government banned contract labor. On the one hand they needed to prove they could make a living, while on the other they could not say that they had a job waiting for them (Zolberg 2006:224).
Furthermore, polygamists, the insane, any persons with “a loathsome or dangerous contagious disease,” and those whose passage was paid for by others were banned. The last two points made it more difficult for Jews to immigrate.
In addition, the responsibility for inspecting immigrants as they arrived in the U.S. was transferred from the state to the federal government. Furthermore, advertisements encouraging immigration were banned and the fear of being seen as a “public charge,” and therefore eligible for immediate deportation, caused panic among immigrants (Howe 2005:55).
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| Responses Thus Far |
| Many affluent Jews, mostly German, responded to the restrictions made in the 1890's by promising to look after the poor new arrivals in return for a more flexible reading of the public charge clauses. They also requested American intervention in Russia to end anti-Semitic practices (Zolberg 2006:222). |
| A group, called the American Jewish Committee (AJC), played a big part in the fight against immigration restrictions. In 1906 Theodore Roosevelt appointed Oscar Straus, the president of the AJC to his cabinet . Straus was the first Jew ever to hold a cabinet position. Straus worked against the passage of the Dillingham Bill, which proposed requiring new immigrants to pass a literacy test before being admitted to the United States. Luckily, the House Speaker was also opposed to the bill and it was not passed (Zolberg 2006:230). |
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| 1903 |
| In 1903, imbeciles, the feeble-minded, those suffering from tuberculosis, persons with physical or mental defects that could affect their ability to earn a living, and children under 16 unaccompanied by parents were excluded.
The "Gentlemen’s Agreement" between the U.S. and Japan limited Japanese immigration (Ellis Island Museum 2009).
The act also took the first step towards requiring ships to record the origins of the passengers. The classification of “Hebrew” was met with protests from Jewish organizations, which asserted that “Jew” signified a religious affiliation (Zolberg 2006:229). |
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| More Responses |
| In 1909, The Jewish Daily Forward vehemently fought against New York Commissioner of Immigration William Williams’ requirement that immigrants pay twenty-five dollars in order to enter. This was a problem for most Jews and other eastern Europeans. The Yiddish-language newspaper described the high number of Jews who were detained on Ellis Island because they could not pay the fee, pointing out that these immigrants had not been informed of the requirement when they left Europe. Secretary of Commerce and Labor Charles Nagel intervened and the twenty-five dollar requirement was removed, but as he eliminated the onerous fee, he added that “the immigrant must prove he is healthy and has a trade.” For many immigrants this requirement was a problem as well, because many of them never had a trade (Howe 2005:55-56). |
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| 1917 |
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Despite several successul earlier efforts, going back to 1897, to prevent such a law from passing, in 1917, a literacy test law was finally passed. The ruling did not affect Jews very seriously, because Jewish citizens of the United States, including influential Jews of German origin, succeeded in getting literacy in the Yiddish and Hebrew languages recognized. Furthermore, the American Jewish Committee was to get an exemption for Jews who came to the U.S. to escape religious persecution (Feingold 1995:61).
By 1917, virtually all immigration from Asia was banned (Eillis Island Museum 2009).
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| 1921-1924 |
| “Victories were only temporary, perhaps illusory, since the basic trend in American politics was by now toward restricting immigration.” (Irving Howe) |
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In 1921, the Emergency Quota Act was established that limited admissions to 3% of each nationality’s representation in the 1910 census. Finally, no more than 350,000 immigrants could enter in a given year.
Any victories against immigration restrictions were short lived after the Immigration Act of 1924 was enacted. Admissions from each country were further reduced to 2% of each nationality’s representation in the 1890 census.
An annual ceiling of 165,000 was placed on immigration. This formal quota system was replaced in 1927 by what came to be called the national origins system, which limited immigration to 150,000 per year and assigned quotas based on each nationality’s percentage of the total population in the 1920 census.
This restrictive policy was not changed until 1965 (Ellis Island Museum 2009).
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