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60-401: The High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs established in 2019 is in charge of coordinating and developing Armenia's relations with the diaspora. In Armenian, the diaspora is referred to as spyurk ( pronounced [spʰʏrkʰ] ), spelled սփիւռք in classical orthography and սփյուռք in reformed orthography . In the past, the word gaghut ( գաղութ pronounced [ɡɑˈʁutʰ] )

120-550: A 2023 study in the American Economic Journal. Farming, a sector of the economy highly reliant on migrant labor, shifted towards more capital-intensive forms of agriculture, whereas the mining industry, another immigrant-reliant industry, contracted. Looking back on the significance of the act, Harry Laughlin , the eugenicist who served as expert advisor to the House Committee on Immigration during

180-461: A homogenous, Northern European–descended nation: in reality, 15 percent of the nation were immigrants in 1890." The 1890-based quotas were set to last until 1927, when they would be replaced by of a total annual quota of 150,000, proportional to the national origins figures from the 1920 census . However, this did little to diversify the nations from which immigrants came because the 1920 census did not include Blacks, Mulattos, and Asians as part of

240-496: A lesser degree – Korean and Filipino laborers began arriving and putting down roots in Western United States , an exclusionary movement formed in reaction to the " Yellow Peril ." Valentine S. McClatchy , the founder of The McClatchy Company and a leader of the anti-Japanese movement, argued, "They come here specifically and professedly for the purpose of colonizing and establishing here permanently

300-710: A note that read: "Appealing to the American people". American businesses situated in Japan suffered the economic brunt of the legislation's repercussions, as the Japanese government subsequently increased tariffs on American trading by '100 per cent'. Passage of the Immigration Act has been credited with ending a growing democratic movement in Japan during this time period, and opening the door to Japanese militarist government control. According to David C. Atkinson, on

360-410: A trade. The other 15% went disproportionately to Eastern and Southern Europe. The act established preferences under the quota system for certain relatives of U.S. residents, including their unmarried children under 21, their parents, and spouses at least 21 and over. It also preferred immigrants at least 21 who were skilled in agriculture and their wives and dependent children under 16. Non-quota status

420-532: A variety of ways. It increased restrictions on Asian immigration, raised the general immigrant head tax, excluded those deemed to be diseased or mentally unwell, and in light of intense lobbying by the Immigration Restriction League , introduced the literacy test for all new immigrants to prove their ability to read English. In the wake of the post–World War I recession , many Americans believed that bringing in more immigrants would worsen

480-533: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Immigration Act of 1924 The Immigration Act of 1924 , or Johnson–Reed Act , including the Asian Exclusion Act and National Origins Act ( Pub. L.   68–139 , 43  Stat.   153 , enacted May 26, 1924 ), was a United States federal law that prevented immigration from Asia and set quotas on the number of immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe. It also authorized

540-690: Is a government agency in Armenia in charge of coordinating and developing the country's relations with the Armenian diaspora . It was established on 11 June 2019 to replace the now-defunct Ministry of Diaspora. The precursor to the Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs was the Ministry of Diaspora, created on 1 October 2008. This ministry was established as a direct response to

600-570: Is divided into two communities – those communities from Ottoman Armenia (or Western Armenia ) and those communities which are from the former Soviet Union , independent Armenia and Iran (or Eastern Armenia ). Armenians in Turkey , such as Hrant Dink , do not consider themselves a part of the Armenian Diaspora, since they have been living in their historical homeland for more than four thousand years. They are not considered part of

660-530: The American economy , and were unable to adapt to American culture . Eugenics was used as justification for the act's restriction of certain races or ethnicities of people to prevent the spread of perceived feeblemindedness in American society. Samuel Gompers , himself a Jewish immigrant from Britain and the founder of the American Federation of Labor (AFL), supported the act because he opposed

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720-544: The Byzantine Empire . In order to populate the less populated areas of Byzantium, Armenians were relocated to those regions. Some Armenians converted to Greek Orthodoxy while retaining Armenian as their primary language, whereas others remained in the Armenian Apostolic Church despite pressure from official authorities. A growing number of Armenians migrated to Cilicia during the course of

780-611: The Immigration Act of 1917 , it governed American immigration policy until the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 , which revised it completely, was passed. The act provided that no alien ineligible to become a citizen could be admitted to the U.S. as an immigrant. That was aimed primarily at Japanese aliens, although they were not explicitly named in the act. It imposed fines on transportation companies who landed aliens in violation of U.S. immigration law . It defined

840-588: The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 . The Naturalization Act of 1790 declared that only people of European or white descent were eligible for naturalization, but eligibility was extended to people of African descent in the Naturalization Act of 1870 . Chinese laborers and Japanese people were barred from immigrating to the U.S. in the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act and the (unenforced) Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907 , respectively. A limitation on Eastern and Southern European immigration

900-402: The U.S. State Department and the Immigration and Naturalization Service . The act also mandated no alien to be allowed to enter the U.S. without a valid immigration visa issued by an American consular officer abroad. Consular officers were now allowed to issue visas to eligible applicants, but the number of visas to be issued by each consulate annually was limited, and no more than 10% of

960-715: The civil War in Lebanon in 1975 and the outbreak of the Islamic Revolution in Iran during 1978 were factors which pushed Armenians to immigrate. The 1980 U.S. Census reported that 90 percent of the immigration to the United States was undertaken by Iranian-Armenians during the years from 1975 and 1980. Less than one third of the world's Armenian population lives in Armenia. Their pre- World War I population area

1020-499: The unemployment rate . The First Red Scare of 1919–1921 had fueled fears of foreign radicals migrating to undermine American values and provoke an uprising like the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia . The number of immigrants entering the United States decreased for about a year from July 1919 to June 1920 but doubled in the year after that. U.S. Representative Albert Johnson , a eugenics advocate, and Senator David Reed were

1080-541: The 1920 census figures, and the overall immigration limit reduced to 150,000. The act was seen as causing many Jews to instead immigrate to mandatory Palestine , spurring the Fourth Aliyah . In 1937, the Peel Commission noted the act spurred immigration levels not anticipated during the drafting of the 1922 Mandate for Palestine . The law was not modified to aid the flight of Jewish refugees in

1140-521: The 1924 quota, only 4,000 per year were allowed since the 1890 quota counted only 182,580 Italians in the U.S. By contrast, the annual quota for Germany after the passage of the act was over 55,000 since German-born residents in 1890 numbered 2,784,894. Germany, Britain, and Ireland had the highest representation in 1890. The provisions of the act were so restrictive that in 1924 more Italians, Czechs, Yugoslavs, Greeks, Lithuanians, Hungarians, Poles, Portuguese, Romanians, Spaniards, Chinese, and Japanese left

1200-416: The 1930s or 1940s despite the rise of Nazi Germany . The quotas were adjusted to allow more Jewish refugees after World War II , but without increasing immigration overall. The act has been characterized as the culmination of decades of intentional exclusion of Asian immigrants. The act had negative economic effects. Economists have argued that both innovation and employment were negatively affected by

1260-520: The American population used for the quotas.  The lowest quota per country was 100 individuals, but even then only those eligible for citizenship could immigrate to the U.S. (i.e. only whites in China could immigrate). Establishing national origin quotas for the country proved to be a difficult task, and was not accepted and completed until 1929. The act gave 85% of the immigration quota to Northern and Western Europe and those who had an education or had

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1320-522: The Armenian communities around the world have developed in significantly different ways within the constraints and opportunities found in varied host cultures and countries." In the fourth century, Armenian communities already existed outside Greater Armenia . Diasporic Armenian communities emerged in the Achaemenid and Sassanid empires, and they also defended the eastern and northern borders of

1380-605: The Armenians who managed to escape, established themselves in various parts of the world. By 1966, around 40 years after the start of the Armenian genocide, 2 million Armenians still lived in Armenia, while 330,000 Armenians lived in Russia, and 450,000 Armenians lived in the United States and Canada . In the United States, the rate of immigration increased after the Immigration Act was passed in 1965. The outbreak of

1440-591: 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, with a minimum quota of 100. This formula

1500-515: 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 1924 Act's National Origins Formula based on the 1920 census of the total U.S. population took effect on July 1, 1929. The act also established the "consular control system" of immigration, which divided responsibility for immigration between

1560-561: The Japanese government's perception of the act, "this indignity is seen as a turning point in the growing estrangement of the U.S. and Japan, which culminated in the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor ". The act's revised formula reduced total emigration from 357,803 between 1923 and 1924 to 164,667 between 1924 and 1925. The law's impact varied widely by country. Emigration from Great Britain and Ireland fell 19%, while emigration from Italy fell more than 90%. From 1901 to 1914, 2.9 million Italians immigrated, an average of 210,000 per year. Under

1620-485: The Minister of Diaspora from 11 May 2018, to 14 January 2019, played a significant role during the transition period. Under his leadership, the ministry initiated several reforms and programs aimed at strengthening the diaspora's connection to Armenia. In a bid to reorganize and potentially enhance the efficiency of diaspora engagement, the Armenian government decided to disband the Ministry of Diaspora. In its place,

1680-441: The Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs was created on 14 June 2019. Following the establishment of the new office, Zareh Sinanyan was appointed as the High Commissioner, signifying a new phase in Armenia's diaspora policy. The Office of the High Commissioner has introduced various programs designed to connect the Armenian diaspora more closely with their homeland. These include: This Armenia -related article

1740-400: The U.S. according to the 1890 census . A more recent census existed, but at the behest of a eugenics subcommittee chaired by eugenicist Madison Grant , Congress used the 1890 one to increase immigrants from Northern and Western Europe and to decrease those from Eastern and Southern Europe. According to Commonweal , the act "relied on false nostalgia for a census that only seemed to depict

1800-438: The U.S. government had maintained a cordial economic and political relationship. In Japan, the bill was called by some the "Japanese Exclusion" act. Japanese Foreign Minister Matsui Keishirō instructed the Japanese ambassador to the U.S., Masanao Hanihara , to write to Hughes: the manifest object of the [section barring Japanese immigrants] is to single out Japanese as a nation, stigmatizing them as unworthy and undesirable in

1860-513: The U.S. than arrived as immigrants. During World War II, the U.S. modified the act to set immigration quotas for their allies in China. The immigration quotas were eased in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 and replaced in the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 . The law sharply curtailed emigration from countries that were previously host to the vast majority of the Jews in

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1920-482: The U.S., almost 75% of whom emigrated from Russia alone. Because Eastern European immigration did not become substantial until the late 19th century, the law's use of the population of the U.S. in 1890 as the basis for calculating quotas effectively made mass migration from Eastern Europe, where the vast majority of the Jewish diaspora lived at the time, impossible. In 1929, the quotas were adjusted to one-sixth of 1% of

1980-472: The United States, and by 1913, 9,355 more Armenians entered the North American borders. As World War I approached, the rate of Armenian immigration rose to about 60,000. In 1920 and until the Immigration Act of 1924 , 30,771 Armenians came to the United States; the immigrants were predominantly widowed women, children, and orphans. Although many Armenians perished during the Armenian genocide , some of

2040-606: The Western Hemisphere: Immigrants from Asia were banned, and the total annual immigration quota for the rest of the world was capped at 165,000—an 80% reduction of the yearly average before 1914. The act temporarily reduced the annual quota of any nationality from 3% of their 1910 population , per the Emergency Quota Act of 1921, to 2% as recorded in the 1890 census ; a new quota was implemented in 1927, based on each nationality's share of

2100-505: The act sought to establish a distinct American identity by preserving its ethnic homogeneity. Reed told the Senate that earlier legislation "disregards entirely those of us who are interested in keeping American stock up to the highest standard—that is, the people who were born here." He believed that immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe, most of whom were Catholics or Jews, arrived sick and starving, were less capable of contributing to

2160-507: The bill, in a statement to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, said that the bill would have to be revisioned "to make its operation simple, humane, and free from the misery and disappointment to which would-be immigrants are now subjected." Members of the Senate interpreted Hanihara's phrase "grave consequences" as a threat, which was used by hardliners of the bill to fuel both houses of Congress to vote for it. Because 1924

2220-747: The cheap labor that immigration represented even though the act would sharply reduce Jewish immigration. Both the AFL and the Ku Klux Klan supported the act. Historian John Higham concludes: "Klan backing made no material difference. Congress was expressing the will of the nation.". Lobbyists from the West Coast , where a majority of Japanese, Korean, and other East Asian immigrants had settled, were especially concerned with excluding Asian immigrants. The 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act had already slowed Chinese immigration, but as Japanese and – to

2280-442: The creation of the country's first formal border control service, the U.S. Border Patrol , and established a "consular control system" that allowed entry only to those who first obtained a visa from a U.S. consulate abroad. Enacted amid increasing public and political anxiety about the country's rapid social and demographic changes, the 1924 act supplanted earlier legislation by vastly reducing immigration from countries outside

2340-666: The diaspora either by the Ministry of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan : "Diaspora represents all the Armenians who live beyond the Armenian Highland. In this context, we have singled out the Armenians of Istanbul and those living on the territory of Western Armenia. Those people have inhabited the lands for thousands of years, and they are not considered Diaspora [representatives]." Before 1870, 60 Armenian immigrants settled in New England. Armenian immigration rose to 1,500 by

2400-776: The eleventh and twelfth centuries as a result of the Seljuk Turk invasions. After the fall of the kingdom to the Mamelukes and loss of Armenian statehood in 1375, up to 150,000 went to Cyprus , the Balkans , and Italy . Although an Armenian diaspora existed during Antiquity and the Middle Ages , it grew in size due to emigration from the Ottoman Empire , Iran , Russia , and the Caucasus . The Armenian diaspora

2460-598: The end of the 1880s, and rose to 2,500 in the mid-1890s due to massacres caused by the Ottoman Empire. Armenians who immigrated to the United States before WWI were primarily from Asia Minor and settled on the East Coast. The Armenian diaspora grew considerably both during and after the First World War due to the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire . In the year 1910, over 5,500 Armenians immigrated to

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2520-551: The eyes of the American people. And yet the actual result of that particular provision, if the proposed bill becomes law as intended, would be only to exclude 146 Japanese per year.... I realize, as I believe you do, the grave consequences which the enactment of the measure retaining that particular provision would inevitably bring upon the otherwise happy and mutually advantageous relations between our two countries. Wisconsin Senator Robert M. La Follette , who did not vote on

2580-457: The growing need for a more organized and dedicated approach to Armenia - Diaspora relations, which had become a significant aspect of the state's policy under the presidency of Serzh Sargsyan . Led by Hranush Hakobyan for nearly a decade, the ministry aimed to strengthen homeland-Diaspora ties, develop Armenia's reputation, and support the preservation and dissemination of Armenian cultural heritage globally. Mkhitar Hayrapetyan , who served as

2640-470: The legislative process, praised it as a political breakthrough in the adoption of scientific racism as a theoretical foundation for immigration policy. Due to the reliance upon eugenics in forming the policy, and growing public reception towards scientific racism as justification for restriction and racial stereotypes by 1924, the act has been seen as a piece of legislation that formalized the views of contemporary U.S. society. Historian Mae Ngai writes of

2700-425: The national origins quota system: At one level, the new immigration law differentiated Europeans according to nationality and ranked them in a hierarchy of desirability. At another level, the law constructed a White American race, in which persons of European descent shared a common Whiteness distinct from those deemed to be not White. In 1928, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler praised the act for banishing "strangers of

2760-414: The proud Yamato race ." He cites their supposed inability to assimilate to American culture and the economic threat that they posed to white businessmen and farmers. Opposing the act, U.S. Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes said, "The legislation would seem to be quite unnecessary, even for the purpose for which it is devised." The act faced strong opposition from the Japanese government with which

2820-519: The quota could be given out in any one month. Aliens were not able to leave their home countries before having a valid visa, as opposed to the old system of deporting them at ports of debarkation. That gave a double layer of protection to the border since if they were found to be inadmissible, immigrants could still be deported on arrival. The National Origins Act authorized the formation of the United States Border Patrol , which

2880-687: The restrictions. In a 2020 paper, the economists Petra Moser and Shmuel San demonstrated that the drastic reduction in immigration from Eastern and Southern European scientists led to fewer new patents, not only from immigrants but also from native-born scientists working in their fields. Even the mass migration of unskilled workers had been a spur to innovation, according to a paper by Kirk Doran and Chungeun Yoon, who found "using variation induced by 1920s quotas, which ended history's largest international migration" that "inventors in cities and industries exposed to fewer low-skilled immigrants applied for fewer patents." Nor did US-born workers benefit, according to

2940-536: The term "immigrant" and designated all other alien entries into the U.S. as "non-immigrant," or temporary visitors. It also established classes of admission for such non-immigrants. The act set a total immigration quota of 165,000 for countries outside the Western Hemisphere , an 80% reduction from average before World War I, and barred immigrants from Asia, including Japan. However, the Philippines

3000-463: The total U.S. population in the 1920 census , which would govern U.S. immigration policy until 1965. According to the Department of State, the purpose of the act was "to preserve the ideal of U.S. homogeneity." The 1924 act would define U.S. immigration policy for nearly three decades, until being substantially revised by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 and ultimately replaced by

3060-405: The two main architects of the act. They conceived the act as a bulwark against "a stream of alien blood"; it likewise found support among xenophobic and nativist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan . However, some proponents, such as the American Federation of Labor (AFL), welcomed the act for reducing cheap immigrant labor that would compete with local workers. Both public and Congressional opposition

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3120-401: Was accorded to wives and unmarried children under 18 of U.S. citizens; natives of Western Hemisphere countries, with their families; non-immigrants; and certain others. Subsequent amendments eliminated certain elements of the law's discrimination against women , but this was not more fully achieved until 1952 . In 1927, the 1924 act was modified to use census data from 1920. The Bureau of

3180-617: Was an election year , and he was unable to form a compromise, President Calvin Coolidge declined to use his veto power to block the act, although both houses passed it by a veto-overriding two-thirds majority. The act was signed into law on May 24, 1924. The immigration act made permanent the basic limitations on immigration to the United States established in 1921 and modified the National Origins Formula , which had been established in that year. In conjunction with

3240-536: Was established two days after the act was passed, primarily to guard the Mexico–United States border . A $ 10 tax was imposed on Mexican immigrants, who were allowed to continue immigrating based on their perceived willingness to provide cheap labor. The act was seen in a negative light in Japan, causing resignations of ambassadors and protests. A citizen committed seppuku near the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo with

3300-452: Was first proposed in 1896 in the form of the literacy test bill. Henry Cabot Lodge was confident the bill would provide an indirect measure of reducing emigration from these countries, but after passing both houses of Congress, it was vetoed by President Grover Cleveland . Another proposal for immigration restriction was introduced again in 1909 by U.S. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge . The Immigration Act of 1917 restricted immigration further in

3360-542: Was minimal. In the wake of intense lobbying , it passed with strong congressional support. There were nine dissenting votes in the Senate and a handful of opponents in the House of Representatives , the most vigorous of whom was freshman Brooklyn Representative Emanuel Celler , a Jewish American . Decades later, he pointed out the act's "startling discrimination against central, eastern and southern Europe." Proponents of

3420-436: Was six times larger than that of present-day Armenia, including the eastern regions of Turkey , northern part of Iran , and the southern part of Georgia . By 2000, there were 7,580,000 Armenians living abroad in total. High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs (Armenia) The Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs ( Armenian : Հայաստանի Հանրապետության սփյուռքի գործերի գլխավոր հանձնակատարի գրասենյակ )

3480-491: Was then a U.S. colony and so its citizens were U.S. nationals and could thus travel freely to the U.S. The act did not include China since it was already barred under the Chinese Exclusion Act. The 1924 act reduced the annual quota of any nationality from 3% of their 1910 population (as defined by the Emergency Quota Act of 1921) to 2% of the number of foreign-born persons of any nationality residing in

3540-458: Was used mostly to refer to the Armenian communities outside the Armenian homeland . It is borrowed from the Aramaic (Classical Syriac) cognate of Hebrew galut (גלות). The Armenian diaspora has been present for over 1,700 years. The modern Armenian diaspora was largely formed after World War I as a result of the Armenian genocide . According to Randall Hansen , "Both in the past and today,

3600-512: Was used until the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 adopted a simplified formula limiting each country to a flat quota of one-sixth of one percent of that nationality's 1920 population count, with a minimum quota of 100. Listed below are historical quotas on emigration from the Eastern Hemisphere , by country, as applied in given fiscal years ending June 30, calculated according to successive immigration laws and revisions from

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