1917 – Immigration Act of 1917 Denies Entry to Immigrants from Eastern Asia and the Pacific Islands

“Immigration Act of 1917 (‘Asiatic Barred Zone Act’). Denies entry to immigrants from the ‘Asiatic Barred Zone’–much of eastern Asia and the Pacific Islands. It also sets a literacy requirement for immigrants over 16 and a head tax for entry into the country; it bars entry by ‘idiots,’ ‘feeble-minded persons,’ ‘epileptics,’ ‘insane persons,’ alcoholics, ‘professional beggars,’ all persons ‘mentally or physically defective,’ polygamists, and anarchists.”