Final answer:
The Johnson-Reed Act of 1924 severely limited immigration from certain countries by establishing national-origin quotas, favoring northern and western European immigrants and banning Asian immigration, except from the Philippines.
Step-by-step explanation:
Throughout history, the U.S. government has enacted various laws to restrict immigration. One notable instance is the Johnson-Reed Act of 1924, also known as the National Origins Act. This legislation set quotas that limited the number of immigrants allowed from each country, favoring immigrants from northern and western Europe over those from southern and eastern Europe, and effectively banning immigration from Asia, except for the U.S. territory of the Philippines. The quota was based on 2 percent of the number of residents from that country living in the U.S. as recorded in the 1890 census, which was before the massive influx of southern and eastern Europeans. In contrast, immigration from the Western Hemisphere was not restricted, largely due to the demands of industries in the Southwest U.S., which relied heavily on Mexican labor.