Johnson-Reed Act

[[File:JOHNSON, ALBERT. HONORABLE LCCN2016858443 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|165px|KKK shill Albert Johnson, U.S. House author and partial namesake of the law.]]
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The '''Johnson-Reed Act''', a.k.a. the '''Asian Exclusion Act''' (not to be confused with the {{wpl|Chinese Exclusion Act||,}} the '''Immigration Act of 1924''', or the '''National Origins Act''') was a [[Racism|racially]]-motivated law passed by [[Congress]] restricting immigration in an era of [[extremist]] [[nativism]]. Its primary targets were [[Asian]]s and Eastern [[Europe]]ans.<ref name=ushouse>https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1901-1950/The-Immigration-Act-of-1924/</ref>

The architects of the Johnson-Reed Act were [[far-right]] [[Republicans]] {{wpl|David A. Reed}} and {{wpl|Albert Johnson (congressman)|Albert Johnson|,}} who were motivated by {{wpl|Progressive Era}} [[eugenics]] and [[Xenophobia|hatred of immigrants]]. Johnson's long-held ties to the [[Ku Klux Klan]] were exemplified in legislating their anti-immigration agenda obsessed with white racial demographics, and his subsequent 1926 re-election as a ''congressman'' emerged as a priority for the ''national'' KKK so, in the Klan's words, "so he can continue to be Chairman of the House Committee on Immigration and fight for restricted immigration laws."<ref>https://depts.washington.edu/civilr/kkk_politicians.htm</ref> Whether he ever claimed Klan membership is unknown, however.<ref>https://www.historylink.org/File/20718</ref> Ideological allies and influencers of Johnson included [[Antisemitism|anti-Semitic]] diplomat {{wpl|Wilbur J. Carr||,}} author of a 1920 report branding [[Jewish]] refugees as "inferior."<ref>Daniel J. Tichenor, ''Dividing Lines,'' p. 157.</ref> Reed's inherent cynical attitudes were subsequently repeated in manifestation years later in overtly advocating a revolutionary alteration of the United States government under a model of [[Italian Fascism]].<ref>Louis Fisher, ''Congressional Abdication on War and Spending,'' p. 29.</ref>

Antipathy towards big business was a traditional factor motivating immigration restriction. Business interests were viewed as a cycling perpetuation of wage reduction by opening doors to immigrants over "native-born" Americans, a viewpoint held by Johnson.<ref>Kristofer Allerfeldt, ''Albert Johnson, National Origins and Self-Interest in the Immigration Debate of the 1920s,'' p. 15.</ref>

Passage of the Johnson-Reed Act in the United States House of Representatives was overwhelming, and President [[Calvin Coolidge]] signed the bill after Senate approval.<ref name=ushouse/> Following legal enacting, a published editorial by Reed on ''[[The New York Times]]'' boasted of "America of the Melting Pot Comes to End."<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/1924/04/27/archives/america-of-the-melting-pot-comes-to-end-effects-of-new-immigration.html</ref> Contemporary defenders of Coolidge point to his disdain of racial exclusion and the veto-proof congressional passage,<ref>https://coolidgefoundation.org/blog/were-all-in-the-same-boat-now-coolidge-on-immigration/</ref> although his eugenicist viewpoints motivating regressive immigration policy are hardly praiseworthy.

Provisions of the Johnson-Reed Act faced only partial repeal in 1952 by the {{wpl|McCarran-Walter Act||.}}<ref name=ushouse/><ref>https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/immigration-act</ref>

==External links==
*[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/1924-law-slammed-door-immigrants-and-politicians-who-pushed-it-back-open-180974910/ The 1924 Law That Slammed the Door on Immigrants and the Politicians Who Pushed it Back Open]

==References==
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{{Stub|Immigration}}
[[Category:Immigration]]
[[Category:Law]]
[[Category:Racism]]
[[Category:United States history]]
[[Category:White supremacy]]
[[Category:Xenophobia]]

Categories: Immigration, Law, Racism, United States history, White supremacy, Xenophobia