Inevitably some economic and social problems developed. The American population was -still small and there were fears of being overwhelmed by a flood of Chinese laborers. We had not yet evolved the quota formula for controlling and regulating immigration. So we did the natural thing. and in a series of 15 laws or parts of laws passed between 1882 and 1913 we first "regulated and limited." then "suspended" temporarily. and finally "prohibited" Chinese immigration to the United States. Then in our comprehensive Immigration Act of 1924. the quota system was devised. Aliens who were eligible for citizenship. that is. "white persons. persons of African nativity or descent. and descendants of races indigenous to the Western Hemisphere." were put on a quota basis. A quota froft a given country. according to the present formula. is "a number which bears the same ratio to 150.000 as the number of inhabitants in continental United States in 1920 having that national origin bears to the number of inhabitants in continental United States in 1920." All aliens not included in the above groups and therefore ineligible for citizenship were totally excluded. with certain limited exceptions such as government officials. students. professors. ministers. merchants. temporary visitors for business or pleasure. and so forth.
Keywords matched
quota system Immigration immigration