Ellis Island in Decline
In 1924, Presidents Harding and Coolidge enacted the Immigration Quota Act, reducing the inflow to Ellis Island. This restricted the number of immigrants allowed based on their country of origin. Immigration would slow further in the 1930s in the throes of the Great Depression. For the first time in United States history, more people were leaving the country than trying to arrive. The McCarren-Walter Act of 1952 revised immigration quotas to include small numbers from previously restricted China and Japan. It also reduced quotas elsewhere under the guise of stopping the spread of communism. But the number of detainees slowed significantly. Ellis Island closed in November of 1954.