Johnson-Reed Act

Also known as the Immigration Act of 1924, the act revised American immigration laws according to immigrants’ “national origins” by limiting total annual immigration to the U.S. to around 165,000 individuals and setting annual quotas for immigration from each country. Inspired in part by American proponents of eugenics, this act restricted the entry of "less desirable" immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe--including Jews--while encouraging immigration from northern and western European countries with higher quotas.