Incredible Photos Of Immigrants Arriving At Ellis Island

Immigrant Quotas

While immigration slowed down during World War I, it briefly picked up again after the war. Post-war immigration resulted in 590,971 people came through Ellis Island, causing the government to further restrict immigration. The high numbers of immigrants combined with the fearful mistrust for foreigners that was sweeping the nation lead to the Immigration Quota Act in 1921. President Warren G. Harding signed the act into law, severely limiting the number of people who could enter the country. The new law said that annual immigration from any given country could not exceed 3 percent of the total number of immigrants from the country living in the U.S. in 1910.