Immigration Act of 1917
E38598
The Immigration Act of 1917 was a U.S. federal law that sharply restricted immigration through literacy tests, expanded exclusion categories, and the creation of the “Asiatic Barred Zone,” reflecting strong nativist and xenophobic sentiments of the era.
Statements (51)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
United States federal law
ⓘ
immigration law ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs | Asiatic Barred Zone Act ⓘ |
| amended | earlier Chinese exclusion and Asian exclusion measures ⓘ |
| containsProvision |
deportation rules for certain classes of immigrants
ⓘ
head tax on immigrants ⓘ requirements for medical inspection ⓘ restrictions on contract labor ⓘ |
| country |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| createdImmigrationBarrier | Asiatic Barred Zone ⓘ |
| dateEnacted | 1917-02-05 ⓘ |
| excludedRegion |
Pacific Islands within the Asiatic Barred Zone
ⓘ
most of Asia ⓘ parts of the Middle East ⓘ |
| exclusionBasis |
geographic origin
ⓘ
health status ⓘ literacy ⓘ moral character ⓘ political beliefs ⓘ |
| expandedExclusionCategory |
alcoholics
ⓘ
anarchists ⓘ epileptics ⓘ persons convicted of crimes of moral turpitude ⓘ persons with certain contagious diseases ⓘ professional beggars ⓘ vagrants ⓘ “idiots” and “feeble-minded persons” ⓘ “persons of constitutional psychopathic inferiority” ⓘ |
| followedBy |
Emergency Quota Act of 1921
ⓘ
surface form:
Immigration Act of 1921
Immigration Act of 1924 ⓘ |
| historicalContext |
Progressive Era reforms
ⓘ
World War I era ⓘ |
| influencedBy | organized nativist movements in the United States ⓘ |
| introducedLiteracyTest | true ⓘ |
| legalDomain | immigration and nationality law ⓘ |
| literacyTestRequirement | ability to read in any language ⓘ |
| longTermEffect |
institutionalization of literacy tests in U.S. immigration law
ⓘ
strengthening of racial and national-origin based immigration restrictions ⓘ |
| minimumAgeForLiteracyTest | 16 ⓘ |
| partOf |
Immigration and Nationality Act
ⓘ
surface form:
United States immigration policy
|
| presidentDuringEnactment | Woodrow Wilson ⓘ |
| reflectedIdeology |
nativism
ⓘ
racial exclusionism ⓘ xenophobia ⓘ |
| replaced | earlier piecemeal immigration restrictions ⓘ |
| signedBy | Woodrow Wilson ⓘ |
| targetedGroup |
Asian immigrants
ⓘ
illiterate immigrants ⓘ persons deemed mentally unfit ⓘ persons deemed morally unfit ⓘ political radicals ⓘ |
Referenced by (5)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.