Immigration Restriction League
Encyclopedia
The Immigration Restriction League, was founded in 1894 by people who opposed the influx of "undesirable immigrants" that were coming from southern and eastern Europe. They felt that these immigrants were threatening what they saw as the American way of life and the high wage scale. They worried about immigrants bringing in poverty and organized crime at a time of high unemployment.
The League was founded in Boston and had branches in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. It attracted prominent scholars and philanthropists. An umbrella group, the National Association of Immigration Restriction Leagues was created in 1896 and one of the founders of the original League, Prescott F. Hall, served as its General Secretary from 1896 to 1921.
The League used books, pamphlets, meetings, and numerous newspaper and journal articles to disseminate information and sound the alarm about the dangers of the immigrant flood tide. The League also had political allies that used their power in Congress to gain support for the League’s intentions.
The bill provided for these reductions:
, Mexico
and Cuba
. The League demanded an increase in duty in order to properly support and maintain the inspection and deportation of immigrants. Among other things, the funds obtained from the increase in duty would be used for:
With this bill, the League also hoped to diminish the immigration of people from the poorer countries, who were considered less beneficial for the United States.
persons, insane persons or epileptics into the U.S.
as a requirement for admission to the United States. President Grover Cleveland
vetoed that bill in 1897. President William Taft also vetoed a literacy test in 1913. Again in 1916, President Woodrow Wilson
vetoed such a bill. But in 1917 Congress overrode Wilson’s veto and instituted the first literacy requirement for naturalization
as part of the Immigration Act of 1917
. The law stated that immigrants over 16 years of age should read at least 30 words and not more than 80 in ordinary use in any language. After World War I, the number of immigrants, including those from Eastern and Southern Europe, remained high despite the literacy test.
The influence of the Immigration Restriction League declined but it remained active for nearly twenty years. After the death of Prescott F. Hall the League disbanded.
External links:
The League was founded in Boston and had branches in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. It attracted prominent scholars and philanthropists. An umbrella group, the National Association of Immigration Restriction Leagues was created in 1896 and one of the founders of the original League, Prescott F. Hall, served as its General Secretary from 1896 to 1921.
The League used books, pamphlets, meetings, and numerous newspaper and journal articles to disseminate information and sound the alarm about the dangers of the immigrant flood tide. The League also had political allies that used their power in Congress to gain support for the League’s intentions.
Numerical limitation
On April 8, 1918 the League introduced a bill into the Congress to increase the restriction of immigration by means of numerical limitation. The goal of this bill, called "An Act to regulate the immigration of aliens to, and the residence in, the United States," was to reduce as much as possible the number of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe while increasing the number of immigrants from Northern and Western Europe who the League thought were people with kindred values.The bill provided for these reductions:
| Actually admitted | Admissible under bill | |
|---|---|---|
| Northern and Western Europe | 189,177 | 1,090,500 |
| Southern and Eastern Europe | 945,288 | 279,288 |
Increase of the duty on alien passengers
The bill asked for an increase of the duty paid by alien passengers to enter the United States from two to five dollars. It excluded the citizens of the United States, CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
and Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. The League demanded an increase in duty in order to properly support and maintain the inspection and deportation of immigrants. Among other things, the funds obtained from the increase in duty would be used for:
- Enlargement of immigrant stations
- The development and perfecting of the service along the Mexican and Canadian border
- More immigration inspectors
- Enlarged immigration office facilities
With this bill, the League also hoped to diminish the immigration of people from the poorer countries, who were considered less beneficial for the United States.
Additions to the excluded classes
The National Conference on Immigration, held in New York, proposed to add imbeciles, feeble-minded persons, and epileptics to the excluded classes. Persons of poor physique were more susceptible to diseases because of the unsanitary places where they lived. The Bill also demanded an extension of fines to steamship companies for bringing imbeciles, feeble-mindedFeeble-minded
The term feeble-minded was used from the late nineteenth century in Great Britain, Europe and the United States to refer to a specific type of "mental deficiency". At the time, mental deficiency was an umbrella term, which encompassed all degrees of educational and social deficiency...
persons, insane persons or epileptics into the U.S.
Prevention of unlawful landing
Previously, transportation companies were only asked to exercise care not to transport illegal immigrants into the United States when returning home from Europe. This bill ordered transportation companies to prevent the landing of "undesirable aliens".Deportation of public charges
It was a law that would allow deportation of immigrants who entered the United States in violation of law and those becoming public charges from causes arising prior to their landing. Furthermore, it stated that the company that provided the transportation of such individuals would pay half the cost of their removal to the port of deportation.Literacy test
The IRL made common cause with blue collar workers in labor unions in advocating a literacy requirement as a means to limit poorly-educated immigrants who would lower the wage scale. Potential immigrants had to be able to read their own language. Congress passed the literacy bill for the first time in 1896, which set the ability to read at least 40 words in any languageLanguage
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
as a requirement for admission to the United States. President Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
vetoed that bill in 1897. President William Taft also vetoed a literacy test in 1913. Again in 1916, President Woodrow Wilson
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...
vetoed such a bill. But in 1917 Congress overrode Wilson’s veto and instituted the first literacy requirement for naturalization
Naturalization
Naturalization is the acquisition of citizenship and nationality by somebody who was not a citizen of that country at the time of birth....
as part of 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...
. The law stated that immigrants over 16 years of age should read at least 30 words and not more than 80 in ordinary use in any language. After World War I, the number of immigrants, including those from Eastern and Southern Europe, remained high despite the literacy test.
The influence of the Immigration Restriction League declined but it remained active for nearly twenty years. After the death of Prescott F. Hall the League disbanded.
Notable members and officers
- George F. EdmundsGeorge F. EdmundsGeorge Franklin Edmunds was a Republican U.S. Senator from Vermont from 1866 to 1891.Born in Richmond, Vermont, Edmunds attended common schools and was privately tutored as a child. After being admitted to the bar in 1849, he started a law practice in Burlington, Vermont...
, founding member - John Fiske, founding member
- Frank B. GaryFrank B. GaryFrank Boyd Gary was a United States Senator from South Carolina. Born in Cokesbury, South Carolina, he attended the Cokesbury Conference School and Union College . He studied law, was admitted to the bar and commenced practice in Abbeville, South Carolina in 1881...
- Madison GrantMadison GrantMadison Grant was an American lawyer, historian and physical anthropologist, known primarily for his work as a eugenicist and conservationist...
, vice president - Prescott Farnsworth Hall, executive secretary
- Joseph LeeJoseph Lee (recreation advocate)Joseph Lee was a wealthy Bostonian, trained as a lawyer but who never practiced law, who is considered the "founder of the playground movement." He was the son of Henry Lee, a Boston banker, and Elizabeth Perkins Cabot Lee of Brookline, Massachusetts.He was a social worker, author, and...
, vice president - Robert Treat PaineRobert Treat Paine (Boston)Robert Treat Paine, Jr. was a Boston lawyer, philanthropist and social reformer and grandson of the signer of the Declaration of Independence...
, founding member - James H. Patten, secretary in Washington, D.C.
- Nathaniel ShalerNathaniel ShalerNathaniel Southgate Shaler was an American paleontologist and geologist who wrote extensively on the theological and scientific implications of the theory of evolution.-Biography:...
, founding member - Francis Amasa WalkerFrancis Amasa WalkerFrancis Amasa Walker was an American economist, statistician, journalist, educator, academic administrator, and military officer in the Union Army. Walker was born into a prominent Boston family, the son of the economist and politician Amasa Walker, and he graduated from Amherst College at the age...
, vice president - Robert DeCourcy Ward, founder
- Owen WisterOwen WisterOwen Wister was an American writer and "father" of western fiction.-Early life:Owen Wister was born on July 14, 1860, in Germantown, a well-known neighborhood in the northwestern part of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Owen Jones Wister, was a wealthy physician, one of a long line of...
Sources
- Elliott Robert Barkan, And Still They Come: Immigrants and American Society, 1920 to the 1990s (Harlan Davidson, 1996), ISBN 978-0882959283
- John Higham, "Origins of Immigration Restriction, 1882-1897: A Social Analysis," in Notes and Documents, v. 39 (1952), 77-88
- John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of American Nativism, 1860-1925 (Rutgers University Press, 1955), p. 447, ISBN 0813531236
- Samuel McSeveney, "Immigrants, the Literacy Test, and Quotas: Selected American History College Textbooks' Coverage of the Congressional Restriction of European Immigration, 1917-1929," in The History Teacher, v. 21 (1987), 41-51
- Barbara Miller Solomon, Ancestors and Immigrants: A Changing New England Tradition (1956), the standard history of the League
- Daniel J. Tichenor, Dividing Lines: The Politics of Immigration Control in America (2002)
- Hans P. Vought, The Bully Pulpit and the Melting Pot (Mercer University Press, 2004), ISBN 978-0865548879
External links:
- Harvard College Library: Immigration Restriction League (U.S.) records
- Eugenics Archive: Eugenics Laws Restricting Immigration
Primary sources
- Robert DeC. Ward: "Open Letters: An Immigration Restriction League", in The Century, v. 49 (1895), 639-40, accessed Jan. 3, 2010
- U.S. Department of State: The Immigration Act of 1924, accessed Jan. 3, 2010
- Harvard University Library: Constitution of the Immigration Restriction League, accessed Jan. 3, 2010
- Immigration Restriction League. Constitution of the Immigration Restriction league, Boston, Massachusetts: Immigration Restriction League 189-
- Howard B. Grose, Aliens or Americans? New York: Young People's Missionary Movement, c1906
- Prescott Farnsworth Hall, Immigration and Its Effects upon the United States New York: Henry Holt & Company, 1906
See also
- For immigration controversies by country, see also ImmigrationImmigrationImmigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
- Immigration reductionImmigration reductionImmigration reduction refers to a movement in the United States that advocates a reduction in the amount of immigration allowed into the country. Steps advocated for reducing the numbers of immigrants include advocating stronger action to prevent illegal entry and illegal immigration, and...
- Opposition to immigrationOpposition to immigrationOpposition to immigration is present in most nation-states with immigration, and has become a significant political issue in many countries. Immigration in the modern sense refers to movement of people from one nation-state to another, where they are not citizens. It is important to distinguish...
- Immigration policyImmigration policyAn immigration policy is any policy of a state that deals with the transit of persons across its borders into the country, but especially those that intend to work and to remain in the country. Immigration policies can range from allowing no migration at all to allowing most types of migration,...
- List of United States immigration legislation
- Dillingham CommissionDillingham CommissionThe United States Immigration Commission was a special congressional committee formed in February 1907 by the United States Congress, which was then under intense pressure from various nativist groups, to study the origins and consequences of recent immigration to the United States...