IMMIGRATION ACT OF 1924 MAY 1924 IMMIGRATION ACT OF 1924 U.S GOV'T LEGISLATIVE IMMIGRATION REGION EUROPE U.S GOVERNMENT AND CONSTITUTION AMERICAN CULTURE IN MAY 1924 CONGRESS PASSED THE IMMIGRATION ACT OF 1924 WHICH EFFECTIVELY ENDED A MASSIVE WAVE OF IMMIGRATION BEGUN IN THE 1880S THE ACT ESTABLISHED A QUOTA OF 2 PERCENT FOR EACH NATIONALITY BASED ON ITS POPULATION IN THE UNITED STATES AS RECORDED BY THE 1890 CENSUS BETWEEN 1840 AND 1924 MORE THAN 34 MILLION PEOPLE IMMIGRATED TO THE UNITED STATES THE MAJORITY OF THEM CAME FROM EUROPE THE BULK OF IMMIGRANTS ARRIVING AFTER 1880 WERE FROM SOUTHERN AND EASTERN EUROPE THE QUOTAS SET BY THE IMMIGRATION ACT OF 1924 PLACED THESE NEW IMMIGRANTS AT A DISADVANTAGE WHEN THE CENSUS OF 1890 WAS TAKEN THE MAJORITY OF AMERICANS WERE OF NORTHERN AND WESTERN EUROPEAN ANCESTRY THEREFORE THE QUOTAS SET FOR SOUTHERN AND EASTERN EUROPEANS WERE COMPARATIVELY LOW CONGRESS AMENDED THE ACT IN 1927 BY BASING THE QUOTAS ON THE 1920 CENSUS WHICH ALLOWED MORE PEOPLE FROM SOUTHERN AND EASTERN EUROPE TO IMMIGRATE
