Johnson-Reed Act
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The Johnson-Reed Act, a.k.a. the Asian Exclusion Act (not to be confused with the Chinese Exclusion Act,
the Immigration Act of 1924, or the National Origins Act) was a racially-motivated law passed by Congress restricting immigration in an era of extremist nativism. Its primary targets were Asians and Eastern Europeans.[1]
The architects of the Johnson-Reed Act were far-right Republicans David A. Reed and Albert Johnson, who were motivated by Progressive Era eugenics and hatred of immigrants. Johnson's long-held ties to the Ku Klux Klan were exemplified in legislating their anti-immigration agenda obsessed with white racial demographics, and his subsequent 1926 re-election as a congressman emerged as a priority for the national KKK so, in the Klan's words, "so he can continue to be Chairman of the House Committee on Immigration and fight for restricted immigration laws."[2] Whether he ever claimed Klan membership is unknown, however.[3] Ideological allies and influencers of Johnson included anti-Semitic diplomat Wilbur J. Carr, author of a 1920 report branding Jewish refugees as "inferior."[4] Reed's inherent cynical attitudes were subsequently repeated in manifestation years later in overtly advocating a revolutionary alteration of the United States government under a model of Italian Fascism.[5]
Antipathy towards big business was a traditional factor motivating immigration restriction. Business interests were viewed as a cycling perpetuation of wage reduction by opening doors to immigrants over "native-born" Americans, a viewpoint held by Johnson.[6]
Passage of the Johnson-Reed Act in the United States House of Representatives was overwhelming, and President Calvin Coolidge signed the bill after Senate approval.[1] Following legal enacting, a published editorial by Reed on The New York Times boasted of "America of the Melting Pot Comes to End."[7] Contemporary defenders of Coolidge point to his disdain of racial exclusion and the veto-proof congressional passage,[8] although his eugenicist viewpoints motivating regressive immigration policy are hardly praiseworthy.
Provisions of the Johnson-Reed Act faced only partial repeal in 1952 by the McCarran-Walter Act.[1][9]
External links[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1901-1950/The-Immigration-Act-of-1924/
- ↑ https://depts.washington.edu/civilr/kkk_politicians.htm
- ↑ https://www.historylink.org/File/20718
- ↑ Daniel J. Tichenor, Dividing Lines, p. 157.
- ↑ Louis Fisher, Congressional Abdication on War and Spending, p. 29.
- ↑ Kristofer Allerfeldt, Albert Johnson, National Origins and Self-Interest in the Immigration Debate of the 1920s, p. 15.
- ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/1924/04/27/archives/america-of-the-melting-pot-comes-to-end-effects-of-new-immigration.html
- ↑ https://coolidgefoundation.org/blog/were-all-in-the-same-boat-now-coolidge-on-immigration/
- ↑ https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/immigration-act