One of the Most Import Laws in American History was an Afterthought — Market Mad House

Incredibly, one of the most disruptive laws in American history was a political afterthought. In fact, most Americans ignored the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 when they passed it.

Today, we remember the man responsible for the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson (D-Texas) as the architect of Medicare, the enabler of Civil Rights, and the man responsible for the Vietnam War. However, the changes the Immigration Act did more to create today’s America than anything else Johnson did.

Between 1924 and 1965, the Johnson-Reed Act; or Immigration Act of 1924,restricted immigration to small numbers of people from Western Europe. The authors wrote the Johnson-Reed Act to stop the enormous wave of European immigration between the 1890s and the 1920s.

The Johnson-Reed Act

Racism, xenophobia, religious prejudice, and cynical politics drove the Johnson-Reed Act. During the early 20th Century, many white Protestants were afraid Catholic and Jewish immigrants would soon take over the country.

Politics played a role because Catholic immigrants voted Democrat. During the early 1920s, some formerly reliable Republican locales; including Brooklyn, began turning Democrat. One way to stop the rising Democratic tide was to restrict emigration.