Immigration Reform After Incarceration · Am I An American Or Am I Not?

The 1924 Immigration Act had banned immigration from most Asian nations. However, the government permitted Chinese, Indian, and Filipino people to immigrate during WWII because their countries were fighting alongside the U.S. One of the first major postwar changes, the 1945 War Brides Act, allowed Japanese brides of U.S. servicemen – including Japanese American servicemen – to immigrate to the U.S.

After heavy lobbying by the Japanese American Citizens League, Congress passed the 1952 McCarran- Walter Act. The McCarran-Walter Act re-opened Asian immigration and introduced a new decisionmaking system that favored specialized skills and/or reuniting families. It also eliminated laws preventing Asians from becoming naturalized citizens. Ninety percent of those made eligible for citizenship were Issei, many of whom had been in the country for decades. Between 1952 and 1965, roughly 40,000 first generation Japanese became citizens and could vote for the first time. However, the Act’s quota system meant that total Asian immigration remained very limited. It also allowed the government to deport immigrants declared “subversive.”

Continued immigration reform, including the Immigration Act of 1965 and the Refugee Act of 1980, brought more Asian immigrants to the States.

Since the 1922 Ozawa v. United States Supreme Court decision, first generation Issei had been denied access to U.S. citizenship. After World War II, significant momentum began to build for a bill to allow Issei to naturalize. In this picture, Japanese Americans, including a number of veterans, participate in a 1948 Chicago march to push for these rights, which were finally granted in 1952. Courtesy of JACL – Chicago Chapter.

Two years after the passage of the McCarran-Walter Act, these Japanese American elders had passed citizenship requirements and voted for the first time, 1954. Courtesy of JACL – Chicago Chapter.