Immigration Act of 1917
On February 5, 1917, Congress forcibly passed the Immigration Act of 1917 (also known as the Asiatic Barred Zone Act) with overwhelming majority, overriding President Woodrow Wilson's December 14, 1916 veto. This act added to the number of undesirables banned from entering the country, including but not limited to, “idiots,” “feeble-minded persons,” “epileptics,” “insane persons,” alcoholics, “professional beggars,” all persons “mentally or physically defective,” polygamists, and anarchists. Furthermore, it barred all immigrants over the age of sixteen who were illiterate. The most controversial part of the law was the section that designated an “Asiatic Barred Zone,” a region that included much of eastern Asia and the Pacific Islands from which people could not immigrate. Previously, only the Chinese had been excluded from admission to the country.
External links
- Timeline of Asian Pacific Americans and Immigration Law
- Closed Borders and Mass Deportations: The Lessons of the Barred Zone Act
Categories
1917 in law | United States federal immigration and nationality legislation | History of immigration to the United States | Indian American history