War Brides Act facts for kids

The War Brides Act was a special law passed on December 28, 1945. Its main goal was to help soldiers from the United States Armed Forces bring their foreign wives, husbands, and children to live in the U.S. after World War II. This law made it easier for these family members to enter the country.

More than 100,000 people came to the United States because of this Act and its updates. It was active until December 1948. The War Brides Act was a new way of thinking about immigration. It focused on keeping families together rather than on rules that kept certain races out. However, some racial limits still existed, especially for people from Asian countries. For example, only Chinese spouses were allowed to come to the U.S. under this Act at first. The law was very popular and passed easily because it helped military families. But there were also worries about people faking marriages to get into the country.

What the War Brides Act Did

The 1945 War Brides Act helped spouses and children of military members. It allowed them to avoid some strict immigration rules. These rules came from the Immigration Act of 1924. That older law had set limits on how many people from each country could enter the U.S. It also had health standards.

At first, the 1924 law greatly reduced the number of immigrants allowed. It used a system based on how many people from each country were already in the U.S. in 1890. Later, in 1927, a "National Origins" test was added. This test capped the total number of immigrants at 150,000 per year. It also assigned quotas based on the 1920 population.

The 1924 law also stopped most immigrants from Asia. However, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which had banned Chinese immigrants, was canceled in 1943. This change, called the Magnuson Act, meant that Chinese spouses of U.S. service members could now immigrate under the War Brides Act. For a while, Chinese spouses were the only Asian spouses allowed.

Changes and Updates to the Law

Later, in 1946, a law called the Alien Fiancées and Fiancés Act of 1946 was passed. This law extended the same benefits to fiancés and fiancées from the Philippines and India who were engaged to war veterans.

In 1950, Congress brought back the War Brides Act. This time, it also allowed Korean and Japanese spouses to immigrate without being counted in the usual limits.

Family First: A New Approach

Soldiers wanted to bring their wives home. This pushed Congress to deal with a big problem in U.S. immigration law. The problem was how to balance keeping families together with rules that excluded certain races.

Before this, U.S. courts and immigration services had sometimes helped families reunite. But this help was not available to all racial groups, especially Asians. The Immigration Act of 1924 had strong rules against Asian immigration. These rules affected how the War Brides Act was first put into place.

However, by including Chinese spouses, and later other Asian nationalities, the War Brides Act showed something important. Lawmakers could change immigration laws to focus on family reunification. They could shift the focus from a person's race to their family ties and the service of military personnel.

Some people who wanted to limit immigration also supported family reunification. They saw it as a way to keep the national origins system and racial separation in place.

Addressing Discrimination

In July 1947, Congress changed the War Brides Act to fix some clear racial discrimination. This change allowed Asian spouses of active or honorably discharged service members to immigrate easily. However, it did not include their children.

A problem with this change was that the marriage had to happen within 30 days after the law was passed. This made it very hard for service members to get permission to marry and arrange a wedding overseas in such a short time.

This was fixed in August 1950. Congress then allowed all spouses and minor children of service members to immigrate easily. The only condition was that the marriage had to happen before March 19, 1952.

Why the War Brides Act Was Passed

The War Brides Act was passed in December 1945 because of World War II. Many service members had married women and started families in other countries. The law was meant to help these women and children from Europe come to the U.S. for five years after the war.

The War Brides Act was passed for three main reasons:

• To recognize that men had the right to have their wives and children with them.
• To reward military service.
• To support the idea of keeping families together.

Many people believed that service members who bravely served their country were heroes. They felt these heroes should be able to bring their wives and families home to the United States.

Many members of Congress also thought the War Brides Act wouldn't change immigration practices much. At first, only Chinese spouses could be brought over. There were only a small number of American citizens of Chinese descent. This meant even fewer Chinese service members who might bring Chinese brides back. Lawmakers thought that American service members bringing Chinese wives would likely be Chinese themselves. They did not want the law to encourage mixing of different races.

Later, war brides from Japan, Korea, Vietnam, or the Philippines became more common. These later war brides were often in marriages between different races. Chinese war brides, however, were mostly in marriages within the same race.

Worries About Fake Marriages

The War Brides Act led to more worries about fake marriages. Some of these worries came from people who generally disliked immigrants. But there were also real concerns that people might misuse the law.

Just marrying a soldier did not guarantee entry into the United States. Women who came as war brides were carefully checked to make sure their marriages were real. The worries about fraud came from wives who would immigrate under this Act and then not live with their husbands or get a divorce quickly.

To prove their marriage, women had to show proof of their marriage or engagement to a U.S. service member. A war bride's right to enter depended on her husband's status. If her husband was found not to be a soldier or not to have been honorably discharged, she would not be allowed to enter either.