Question

What were the major consequences of the National Origins Act of 1924? Based on Roger Daniels book "Coming to America"

Answer 1

The immediate impact of the new law was the restriction of eastern Europeans, particularly Jews, from entering the United States. Between 1880 and 1924, approximately two million European Jews entered the country. In the year after passage of the new immigration law, fewer than 10,000 European Jews were able to enter on an annual basis. Similar effects were observed among other eastern Europeans. Between 1921 and 1929, the average number of Poles entering the United States was reduced from an annual average of 95,000 to fewer than 10,000. The number of German immigrants, however, because of reduced restrictions— and a larger quota—increased during this period to a high of 45,000 annually, a number exceeded by British subjects to 50,000 annually. Between 1924 and the years immediately following World War II, total immigration was below three million people.

The long-term effects on European Jewry proved particularly devastating. With the limited quotas, European Jews in general, and French, Polish, and German Jews in particular, were largely unable to obtain visas during the years leading up to World War II, during which some six million Jews died at the hands of the Nazis. While Jewish refugees such as Albert Einstein were often epitomized as examples of the openness of American society to European refugees, the reality was that only several thousand Jews, mostly the highly educated, were able to enter the United States.

The national quotas were slightly modified in 1929. However, the system as established by the act of 1924 remained largely in place until 1952. Family members of U.S. citizens were not included in quota numbers, while women were not afforded equal status until the changes of 1952.