Mccarran-Walter Act of 1952

Historical Context

The two World Wars of the 20th century had a definite impact on shaping immigration policy. World War I did not overturn a U.S. policy of isolationism and resulted in a rejection of immigration through limited quotas established by the Johnson-Reed Act of 1924. This was because of a U.S. reaction to the conflict in Europe as based on racial and ethnic quarrels. In contrast, World War II prompted the internationalization of the United States and an understanding that the United States had made alliances with nations of varied races and ethnicities. In world opinion, Hitler's policy of racial eugenics had been destructive, and the fact that the United States barred certain races from immigration was rendered suspect.

In this period, immigration was recognized as germane to foreign policy, and those in favor of changing the rules wanted to recognize foreign alliances and show compassion for a common humanity. It was thought that increased immigration would offset the global cold war rivalry with the Soviet bloc, so that ideology rather than race was seen to define America's enemies. Opening up immigration was [Page 879]recognized as an international position that would maintain goodwill and provide labor.

Power was increasingly felt to be based on moral authority, which could not rest on discrimination. It was felt that U.S. power should be based on foreign alliances with countries of other races who could provide manpower and economic markets for U.S. goods. It seemed hypocritical to condemn imperialism and colonialism and yet retain a racist immigration policy. The McCarran-Walter bill was sold as an anti-Nazi weapon to undermine the idea of racial superiority and inferiority.

Quotas Replace Exclusion

The McCarran-Reed Act of 1952 maintained the eastern hemisphere quota system of the Johnson-Reed Act of 1924, with a cap of 154,667 based on percentages of the population in the 1920 census. The difference was that it allowed for immigrants of all races and ethnicities to enter within the quota. As a result, the racist national origins principle of the Johnson-Reed Act of 1924 remained in place only to the extent that the quota system prevented individuals of national origins with low representation from having a substantial immigration quota. Quotas for this act were based on one-sixth of 1% of individuals of a given national origin enumerated in the 1920 census, with a minimum quota of 100. A major change was the end of exclusion for Asians. The law added twelve new quota areas in Southeast Asia and the Arab Gulf, referred to as the “Asia-Pacific triangle,” and assigned a maximum quota of 2,000.

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