Which statement describes U.S. immigration policy in the early 20th century?
A. Immigration laws favored immigration from Northern and Western Europe over immigration from other regions.
B. Congress steadily reduced restrictions on immigration beginning in the 1890s until immigration was unrestricted by the 1930s.
C. Quotas restricted immigration from Latin America and Asia at the same time that they expanded immigration from Europe and Africa.
D. At the same time that immigration was being restricted, Congress made it easier for newly-arrived immigrants to become U.S. citizens.
Answer (3)
b) Congress steadily reduced restrictions on immigration beginning in the 1890s until immigration was unrestricted by the 1930s.
Immigration into the US grew drastically in the early 20th century. After 1914 immigration slowed because of the war, and then again after immigration restrictions were imposed in the 1920s-30s.
The U.S. immigration policy in the early 20th century was characterized by a preference for immigrants from Northern and Western Europe over other regions. This discriminatory stance was formalized in the Emergency Immigration Act of 1921 and the National Origins Act of 1924, which instituted quotas based on nationality. Limitations were especially strict for immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe and excluded Asians entirely. Latin American immigrants, however, were exempt from these quotas, highlighting the conflicting economic and political interests of the time.
The chosen option is A, indicating that U.S. immigration laws in the early 20th century favored immigration from Northern and Western Europe over immigration from other regions. This was largely due to social and political sentiments calling for reduced immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe, as well as Asia. The Emergency Quota Act and National Origins Act of the 1920s codified these preferences into law.
;
