Depression, War Ease Restrictions (1930 – 1960)

Migrant Laborers

Immigration plummeted from a peak of 14.2 million newcomers in 1930 to 9.7 million in 1960, a drop of 32%. This decrease was a result of the restrictive policies put in place during the previous decades, the global depression, and the Second World War. As a share of the total US population, the number of immigrants fell from 11.6% to 5.4%.

The lack of immigrant labor, combined with the thousands of American men going off to fight in Europe and the Pacific, led to worker shortages that compelled the federal government to establish a temporary worker program with Mexico. At the same time, war-time alliances required a reconsideration of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Following WWII, immigration policies reflected a more humanitarian approach that was influenced by the Cold War and the nation’s emergence as a global superpower.

On the flip side of this more inclusive pragmatism, the internment of Japanese Americans in response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor reflected the challenges of fully integrating Asian-Americans into our communities amidst war-time paranoia and persistent racism.

  • 1942

    Mexican immigrants

    The Bracero Program

    Created by the Mexican Farm Labor Agreement, the Bracero Program established a guest-worker program with Mexico that allowed Mexican farm laborers into the US for temporary work. The program initially addressed the shortage of American farm workers during World War II.

  • 1942

    Sign with instructions for people of Japanese descent

    Executive Order 9066 (Japanese Internment)

    The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor led to concerns that there were spies among the Japanese communities in the West and inflamed long-standing racism towards Japanese Americans. President Roosevelt issued an executive order for the  internment of Japanese Americans to prevent espionage on the home front.

  • 1943

    A promotion to end Chinese exclusion

    The Magnuson Act

    Formally known as the Immigration Act of 1943, this law repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, allowing Chinese immigration and naturalization to resume.

  • 1948

    The nation welcomes displaced people after WWII.

    The Displaced Persons Act

    The Displaced Persons Act was a temporary law allowing the entry of 400,000 people who were displaced by World War II. This was the first time Congress articulated a federal refugee policy. The strong post-war economy in the US through the 1950s helped facilitate the entry of European displaced persons into American society.

  • 1954

    Newspaper headline for "Wetback Raiders"

    Operation Wetback

    In the wake of post-World War II concerns about jobs for soldiers and uncontrolled migration across the southern border, the Immigration Bureau and Border Patrol used military-style tactics to roundup and remove large numbers of Mexican immigrants from the US.