National Origins Formula facts for kids
National Origins Formula is an umbrella term for a series of qualitative immigration quotas in America used from 1921 to 1965, which restricted immigration from the Eastern Hemisphere on the basis of national origin. These restrictions included legislation and federal acts. Since there is no one formula that can account for each law or restriction across the decades, as the scale, variables, and demographic characteristics change per law, the concept of National Origins Formula is best described as a collection of quantitative data considerations in immigration and migration laws in the United States.
Contents
History
Temporary measures establishing quota limits per country based on the makeup of the foreign-born population residing in the U.S. were introduced in 1921 (Emergency Quota Act) and 1924 (Immigration Act of 1924); these were replaced by a permanent quota system based on each nationality's share of the total U.S. population as of 1920, which took effect on July 1, 1929 and governed American immigration law until December 1, 1965 (when the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 abolished it). The National Origins Formula aimed to preserve the existing ethnic proportions of the population as calculated according to data from the 1920 Census of Population.
The 1921 Emergency Quota Act restricted immigration to 3% of foreign-born persons of each nationality that resided in the United States in 1910.
The Immigration Act of 1924, also called the National Origins Act, provided that for three years the formula would change from 3% to 2% and the basis for the calculation would be the census of 1890 instead of that of 1910. After June 30, 1927, total immigration from all countries will be limited to 150,000, with allocations by country based upon national origins of inhabitants according to the census of 1920. The quota system applied only to non-Asian immigrants. It aimed to reduce the overall number of unskilled immigrants, to allow families to re-unite, and to prevent immigration from changing the ethnic distribution of the population. The 1924 Act also included the Asian Exclusion Act, which limited immigration to persons eligible for naturalization. As a result, East Asians and South Asians were effectively banned from immigrating. Africans were also subjected to severe restrictions. Immigration from North and South America was not restricted.
Quota calculation formula
Under the Immigration Act of 1924, the Bureau of the Census and Department of Commerce estimated the National Origins of the White Population of the United States in 1920 in numbers, then calculated the percentage share each nationality made up. The National Origins Formula derived quotas by calculating the equivalent proportion of each nationality out of a total pool of 150,000 annual quota immigrants. This formula was used until the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 adopted a simplified formula limiting each country to a quota of one-sixth of one percent of that nationality's 1920 population count, with a minimum quota of 100.
| Country of origin | Population count | Percentage share |
|---|---|---|
 Austria |
843,000 | 0.942% |
 Belgium |
778,000 | 0.869% |
 Czechoslovakia |
1,715,000 | 1.916% |
 Denmark |
705,000 | 0.788% |
 Estonia |
69,000 | 0.077% |
 Finland |
339,000 | 0.379% |
 France |
1,842,000 | 2.058% |
 Germany |
15,489,000 | 17.305% |
 Greece |
183,000 | 0.204% |
 Hungary |
519,000 | 0.580% |
 Ireland |
10,653,000 | 11.902% |
 Italy |
3,462,000 | 3.868% |
 Latvia |
141,000 | 0.158% |
 Lithuania |
230,000 | 0.257% |
 Netherlands |
1,881,000 | 2.102% |
 Norway |
1,419,000 | 1.585% |
 Poland |
3,893,000 | 4.349% |
 Portugal |
263,000 | 0.294% |
 Romania |
176,000 | 0.197% |
 Russia |
1,661,000 | 1.856% |
 Spain |
150,000 | 0.168% |
 Sweden |
1,977,000 | 2.209% |
 Syria/ Lebanon |
73,000 | 0.082% |
 Switzerland |
1,019,000 | 1.138% |
 Turkey |
135,000 | 0.151% |
 United Kingdom |
39,216,000 | 43.814% |
 Yugoslavia |
504,000 | 0.563% |
1920  USA Total (White) |
89,507,000 | 100.000% |
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, quotas were temporarily retained, but all unused quota spots each year were pooled and made available to other countries effective December 1, 1965. The National Origins Formula fully ended on July 1, 1968, replaced by simple broad numerical limitations of 120,001 from the Western Hemisphere and 170,000 from the Eastern Hemisphere, with no more than 20,000 from any one country, limits in place until the Immigration Act of 1990.
Quotas by country under successive laws
Listed below are historical quotas on immigration from the Eastern Hemisphere, by country, as applied in given fiscal years ending June 30, calculated according to successive immigration laws and revisions from the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 to the final quota year of 1965. The 1922 and 1925 systems based on dated census records of the foreign-born population were intended as temporary measures; the full National Origins Formula based on the 1920 Census of the U.S. population took effect on July 1, 1929.
| Annual National Quota | Act of 1921 | Act of 1924 | Act of 1952 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1922 | % | 1925 | % | 1930 | % | 1965 | % | |
 Albania |
288 | 0.08% | 100 | 0.06% | 100 | 0.07% | 100 | 0.06% |
 Armenia |
230 | 0.06% | 124 | 0.08% | 100 | 0.07% | 100 | 0.06% |
| Austria |
7,451 | 2.08% | 785 | 0.48% | 1,413 | 0.92% | 1,405 | 0.89% |
| Belgium |
1,563 | 0.44% | 512 | 0.31% | 1,304 | 0.85% | 1,297 | 0.82% |
 Bulgaria |
302 | 0.08% | 100 | 0.06% | 100 | 0.07% | 100 | 0.06% |
| Czechoslovakia |
14,357 | 4.01% | 3,073 | 1.87% | 2,874 | 1.87% | 2,859 | 1.80% |
 Danzig |
301 | 0.08% | 228 | 0.14% | 100 | 0.07% | ||
| Denmark |
5,619 | 1.57% | 2,789 | 1.69% | 1,181 | 0.77% | 1,175 | 0.74% |
| Estonia |
1,348 | 0.38% | 124 | 0.08% | 116 | 0.08% | 115 | 0.07% |
| Finland |
3,921 | 1.10% | 471 | 0.29% | 569 | 0.37% | 566 | 0.36% |
 Fiume |
71 | 0.02% | ||||||
| France |
5,729 | 1.60% | 3,954 | 2.40% | 3,086 | 2.01% | 3,069 | 1.94% |
| Germany |
67,607 | 18.90% | 51,227 | 31.11% | 25,957 | 16.89% | 25,814 | 16.28% |
 Greece |
3,294 | 0.92% | 100 | 0.06% | 307 | 0.20% | 308 | 0.19% |
| Hungary |
5,638 | 1.58% | 473 | 0.29% | 869 | 0.57% | 865 | 0.55% |
 Iceland |
75 | 0.02% | 100 | 0.06% | 100 | 0.07% | 100 | 0.06% |
| Ireland |
28,567 | 17.35% | 17,853 | 11.61% | 17,756 | 11.20% | ||
| Italy |
42,057 | 11.75% | 3,854 | 2.34% | 5,802 | 3.77% | 5,666 | 3.57% |
| Latvia |
1,540 | 0.43% | 142 | 0.09% | 236 | 0.15% | 235 | 0.15% |
| Lithuania |
2,460 | 0.69% | 344 | 0.21% | 386 | 0.25% | 384 | 0.24% |
 Luxembourg |
92 | 0.03% | 100 | 0.06% | 100 | 0.07% | 100 | 0.06% |
| Netherlands |
3,607 | 1.01% | 1,648 | 1.00% | 3,153 | 2.05% | 3,136 | 1.98% |
| Norway |
12,202 | 3.41% | 6,453 | 3.92% | 2,377 | 1.55% | 2,364 | 1.49% |
| Poland |
31,146 | 8.70% | 5,982 | 3.63% | 6,524 | 4.24% | 6,488 | 4.09% |
| Portugal |
2,465 | 0.69% | 503 | 0.31% | 440 | 0.29% | 438 | 0.28% |
| Romania |
7,419 | 2.07% | 603 | 0.37% | 295 | 0.19% | 289 | 0.18% |
 Russia /  Soviet Union |
24,405 | 6.82% | 2,248 | 1.37% | 2,784 | 1.81% | 2,697 | 1.70% |
| Spain |
912 | 0.25% | 131 | 0.08% | 252 | 0.16% | 250 | 0.16% |
| Sweden |
20,042 | 5.60% | 9,561 | 5.81% | 3,314 | 2.16% | 3,295 | 2.08% |
| Switzerland |
3,752 | 1.05% | 2,081 | 1.26% | 1,707 | 1.11% | 1,698 | 1.07% |
| Turkey |
2,388 | 0.67% | 100 | 0.06% | 226 | 0.15% | 225 | 0.14% |
| United Kingdom |
77,342 | 21.62% | 34,007 | 20.65% | 65,721 | 42.76% | 65,361 | 41.22% |
 Yugoslavia |
6,426 | 1.80% | 671 | 0.41% | 845 | 0.55% | 942 | 0.59% |
 Australia and  New Zealand |
359 | 0.10% | 221 | 0.13% | 200 | 0.13% | 700 | 0.44% |
| Total from Europe | 356,135 | 99.53% | 161,546 | 98.10% | 150,591 | 97.97% | 149,697 | 94.41% |
| Total from Asia | 1,066 | 0.30% | 1,300 | 0.79% | 1,323 | 0.86% | 3,690 | 2.33% |
| Total from Africa | 122 | 0.03% | 1,200 | 0.73% | 1,200 | 0.78% | 4,274 | 2.70% |
| Total from all Countries | 357,803 | 100.00% | 164,667 | 100.00% | 153,714 | 100.00% | 158,561 | 100.00% |
Relaxation and abolition
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 retained but relaxed the National Origins Formula. It modified the ratios to be based on the 1920 census and eliminated racial restrictions, but retained restrictions by national origin. President Harry Truman vetoed it because of its continued use of national quotas, but the Act was passed over his veto. The quotas were in addition to 600,000 refugees admitted from Europe after World War II.
The National Origins Formula was abolished by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which marked a significant change in American immigration policy. It replaced the system with two quotas for the Western and Eastern hemispheres.
