The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (The McCarran-Walter Act)
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 upheld the national origins quota
system established by the Immigration Act of 1924, reinforcing this
controversial system of immigrant selection.
Patrick McCarran
It also ended Asian exclusion from immigrating to the United States and
introduced a system of preferences based on skill sets and family reunification.
Situated in the early years of the Cold War, the debate over the revision of
U.S. immigration law demonstrated a division between those interested in the
relationship between immigration and foreign policy, and those linking
immigration to concerns over national security. The former group, led by
individuals like Democrat Congressman from New York Emanuel
Celler, favored the liberalization of immigration laws. Celler
expressed concerns that the restrictive quota system heavily favored immigration
from Northern and Western Europe and therefore created resentment against the
United States in other parts of the world. He felt the law created the sense
that Americans thought people from Eastern Europe as less desirable and people
from Asia inferior to those of European descent. The latter group, led by
Democratic Senator from Nevada Pat McCarran and Democratic
Congressman from Pennsylvania Francis Walter, expressed
concerns that the United States could face communist infiltration through
immigration and that unassimilated aliens could threaten the foundations of
American life. To these individuals, limited and selective immigration was the
best way to ensure the preservation of national security and national interests.
Remarkably, economic factors were relatively unimportant in the debate over the
new immigration provisions. Although past arguments in favor of restrictionism
focused on the needs of the American economy and labor force, in 1952, the Cold
War seemed to take precedent in the discussion. Notably, the American Federation
of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations took opposite sides in the
debate, demonstrating that there was not one, clear pro-labor position.
At the basis of the Act was the continuation and codification of the National
Origins Quota System. It revised the 1924 system to allow
for national quotas at a rate of one-sixth of one percent of each nationality’s
population in the United States in 1920. As a result, 85 percent of the 154,277
visas available annually were allotted to individuals of northern and western
European lineage. The Act continued the practice of not including countries in
the Western Hemisphere in the quota system, though it did introduce new length
of residency requirements to qualify for quota-free entry.
The 1952 Act created symbolic opportunities for Asian immigration, though in
reality it continued to discriminate against them. The law repealed the last of
the existing measures to exclude Asian immigration, allotted each Asian nation a
minimum quota of 100 visas each year, and eliminated laws preventing Asians from
becoming naturalized American citizens. Breaking down the “Asiatic Barred Zone”
was a step toward improving U.S. relations with Asian nations. At the same time,
however, the new law only allotted new Asian quotas based on race, instead of
nationality. An individual with one or more Asian parent, born anywhere in the
world and possessing the citizenship of any nation, would be counted under the
national quota of the Asian nation of his or her ethnicity or against a generic
quota for the “Asian Pacific Triangle.” Low quota numbers and a uniquely racial
construction for how to apply them ensured that total Asian immigration after
1952 would remain very limited.
There were other positive changes to the implementation of immigration policy in
the 1952 Act. One was the creation of a system of preferences which served to
help American consuls abroad prioritize visa applicants in countries with
heavily oversubscribed quotas. Under the preference system, individuals with
special skills or families already resident in the United States received
precedence, a policy still in use today. Moreover, the Act gave non-quota status
to alien husbands of American citizens (wives had been entering outside of the
quota system for several years by 1952) and created a labor certification
system, designed to prevent new immigrants from becoming unwanted competition
for American laborers.
President Truman was concerned about the decisions to
maintain the national origins quota system and to establish racially constructed
quotas for Asian nations. He thought the new law was discriminatory, and he
vetoed it, but the law had enough support in Congress to pass over his veto.
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