The Impact of U.S. Immigration Policy on the Economic “Quality” of German and Austrian Immigrants in the 1930s 1

Abstract

The results of this study are used to evaluate United States immigration policy during the 1930s. Under the “likely to become a public charge” clause (the LPC clause), consular officers were expected to distinguish among intended immigrants on the basis of their likelihood of becoming public charges at any time subsequent to their arrival in the United States. If the LPC clause was implemented with any degree of efficiency, the group of refugees which arrived before the clause was renounced in March 1938 would have been subjected to stricter economic-quality standards than the group which arrived after it was renounced. The results of a European economic quality comparison between LPC refugees and post-LPC refugees suggest that the LPC clause did not result in any significant quality distinctions between the immigrants of the two groups. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis show that there is not any evidence that refugees who arrived while the LPC clause was in effect had any less U.S. earnings potential and, thus, were any less likely to become public charges than refugees who arrived after the LPC clause was renounced.