The United States Immigration Act of 1918 (ch. 186) was enacted on October 16, 1918. It is also known as the Dillingham-Hardwick Act.

Enactment

During World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, officials at the Department of Justice

United States Department of Justice

The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...

 were frustrated in the attempts to suppress anarchist activity by their inability to convict even self-professed anarchists under current legislation, notably the Immigration Act of 1903 and the Immigration Act of 1917

Immigration Act of 1917

On February 4, 1917, the United States Congress passed the Immigration Act of 1917 with an overwhelming majority, overriding President Woodrow Wilson's December 14, 1916 veto...

. U.S. authorities in the Wilson administration

Woodrow Wilson

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...

 determined that their best opportunity to detain and remove foreign-born anarchists, antiwar protesters, and members of radical labor unions such as the I.W.W. from the United States lay in the authority of the Department of Immigration

Immigration and Naturalization Service

The United States Immigration and Naturalization Service , now referred to as Legacy INS, ceased to exist under that name on March 1, 2003, when most of its functions were transferred from the Department of Justice to three new components within the newly created Department of Homeland Security, as...

 to deport individuals under an extremely broad definition of anarchism, this time using administrative procedures that did not require due process.

Working together, officials at the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Immigration drafted legislation designed to remedy the defects in current legislation by defining anarchism broadly enough to cover all forms activity related to its advocacy, including membership in or affiliation with any organization or group that advocated opposition to all forms of organized government. The new legislation removed the removed the provision in prior law that aliens who had resided in the United States for more than 5 years were not subject to deportation. The bill passed the House of Representatives quickly. While waiting for the Senate, representatives of the two sponsoring government departments held meetings to develop a strategy for handling the "disposition of cases of alien anarchists, some of whom are Italian anarchists and others Industrial Workers of the World and Russian Union workers, now pending."

Senator Borah of Idaho was one of the few opposed, but he was not prepared to try to prevent a vote. When the bill passed, it included additional punishment for anyone deported who returned to the United States. The punishment for that was a prison term of 5 years followed by deportation once again.

Definition of anarchist

The act expanded and elaborated the brief definition found in the Anarchist Exclusion Act 17 years earlier to read:
aliens who are anarchists; aliens who advise, advocate, or teach, or who are members of, or affiliated with, any organization, society, or group, that advises, advocates, or teaches opposition to all organized government; aliens who believe in, advise, advocate, or teach, or who are members of, or affiliated with, any organization, association, society, or group, that believes in, advises, advocates, or teaches:

(1) the overthrow by force or violence of the Government of the United States or of all forms of law, or

(2) the duty, necessity, or propriety of the unlawful assaulting or killing of any officer or officers, either of specific individuals or of officers generally, of the Government of the United States or of any other organized government, because of his or their official character, or

(3) the unlawful damage, injury, or destruction of property, or

(4) sabotage; aliens who write, publish, or cause to be written or published, or who knowingly circulate, distribute, print, or display, or knowingly cause to be circulated, distributed, printed, or displayed, or knowingly have in their possession for the purpose of circulation, distribution, publication, or display any written or printed matter, advising, advocating, or teaching opposition to all government, or advising, advocating, or teaching:

(1) the ovethrow by force or violence of the Government of the United States or of all forms of law, or

(2) the duty, necessity, or propriety of the unlawful assaulting or killing of any officer or officers of the Government of the United States or of any other government, or

(3) the unlawful damage, injury, or destruction of property, or

(4) sabotage; aliens who are members of, or affiliated with, any organization, association, society, or group, that writes, circulates, distributes, prints, publishes, or displays, or causes to be written, circulated, distributed, printed, published, or displayed, or that has in its possession for the purpose of circulation, distribution, publication, or display, any written or printed matter of the character in subdivision (d).

Impact

In 1919, the New York Times reported that in the fiscal year 1918, two anarchists were denied entry to the U.S., 37 were deported, and 55 were awaiting deportation. The Times offered an editorial comment contrasting those low numbers with the degree of public disturbance the country was experiencing: "It appears to be difficult to find alien anarchists. Yet those in the United States seldom practice long either silence or concealment."

Among the more notorious anarchists deported under the Act were Luigi Galleani

Luigi Galleani

Luigi Galleani was an Italian anarchist active in the United States from 1901 to 1919, viewed by historians as an anarchist communist and an insurrectionary anarchist. He is best known for his enthusiastic advocacy of "propaganda of the deed", i.e...

 and several of his adherents. Galleani's followers, known as Galleanists, were responsible for a bombing campaign that would last from 1914 until 1932, culminating in the deadly bombing campaigns

1919 United States anarchist bombings

The 1919 United States anarchist bombings were a series of bombings and attempted bombings carried out by anarchist followers of Luigi Galleani from April through June 1919...

 of 1919

1919 United States anarchist bombings

The 1919 United States anarchist bombings were a series of bombings and attempted bombings carried out by anarchist followers of Luigi Galleani from April through June 1919...

 and 1920

Wall Street bombing

The Wall Street bombing occurred at 12:01 p.m. on Thursday, September 16, 1920, in the Financial District of New York City. The blast killed 38 and seriously injured 143...

. Emma Goldman

Emma Goldman

Emma Goldman was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing and speeches. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the twentieth century....

 and Alexander Berkman

Alexander Berkman

Alexander Berkman was an anarchist known for his political activism and writing. He was a leading member of the anarchist movement in the early 20th century....

, both resident aliens, were also deported pursuant to the Act.

After more than four thousand alleged anarchists were arrested for deportation under the act, the Department of Labor released the bulk of those arrested. Acting Secretary of Labor

United States Secretary of Labor

The United States Secretary of Labor is the head of the Department of Labor who exercises control over the department and enforces and suggests laws involving unions, the workplace, and all other issues involving any form of business-person controversies....

 Louis Freeland Post

Louis Freeland Post

Louis Freeland Post was the Assistant United States Secretary of Labor during the closing year of the Wilson administration, the period of the Palmer Raids and the Red Scare, where he had responsibility for the Bureau of Immigration.-Biography:Post opposed immigration restrictions and forcefully...

was threatened with impeachment for his findings in favor of those charged in deportation cases. A total of 556 persons were eventually deported under the Immigration Act of 1918. It was repealed in 1952.