Black Immigration 1899–1961

How does the long history of anti-Black racism in this country manifest itself in the data we have uncovered? One way is through the data governing admissions. Between 1899 and 1961, federal authorities reported immigrant admissions by “race or peoples”. Beginning in 1962, they started recording immigrant admissions by “country of birth” and “country of last residence”. This visualization tracks admissions of people classified as Black by federal immigration authorities. Notice the startling drop beginning in 1924. In that year, Congress required all immigrants seeking to enter the United States to first acquire a visa from a U.S. consular office abroad. While that measure was in theory race neutral, consular officials used this new requirement to slash the number of Black immigrants authorized to enter the United States each year. Between 1924 and 1925, the number of Black immigrants entering the United States each year dropped by 94%. Can you think of more recent examples where our immigration system has worked to decrease the Black immigrant population in the United States?