1920’s U.S. Immigration Policies
Birth rates, death rates and migrations have caused the redistribution of sections of our population in the past and currently these forces are at work among our ethnic stocks. Among Negroes death rates are about one and a half times as high as among whites. Death rates are also higher for the foreign born than for native born whites, although the differences are slight for those in the same income groups. Birth rates are somewhat higher among Negroes and foreign born whites than among native whites. The net result is that Negroes constitute a smaller proportion of the population than in earlier years and if present policies of restrictive immigration continue in force, the foreign born will be a declining element.
The present immigration policy of the United States not only regulates the quantity of the immigrant population but is selective as to quality. Designed to favor certain groups of nationalities, it encourages the Nordic racial types of northwestern Europe and restricts the Mediterranean and Alpine types of southern and southeastern Europe. This policy selects a physical type which closely resembles the prevailing stock in our country, for about 85 percent of the whites in the United States in 1920 were from strains originating in northwestern Europe where Nordics predominate. The immigration policy is inconsistent as applied to the non-white acres. The entrance of Chinese and Japanese is limited, but not that of the Filipinos or the Mexicans.
Source: 1920’s Social Trends in the United States
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