Filipino Repatriation Act

American immigration law in 1935

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The Filipino Repatriation Act of 1935 established for Filipino people living in the United States a repatriation program. It provided free transportation for Filipino residents of the continental United States who wished to return to the Philippines but could not afford to do so.[1]

## Provisions

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The Filipino Repatriation Act provided free one-way transportation for single adults. Such grants were supplemented in some instances by private funds, such as from the California Emergency Relief Association, that paid passage for Filipino children who had been born in the United States so that they could return with their parents. Both the Tydings–McDuffie Act and the Filipino Repatriation Act halted family reunification under U.S. immigration law, forcing many Filipino families to remain separate for a number of years.[1] If they wished to return to the US, the Filipinos were restricted under the quota system established by the Tydings–McDuffie Act which limited the number of Filipinos entering the US to 50 per year.

## History

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Main article: History of Filipino Americans

Along with Guam and Puerto Rico, the United States acquired the Philippines from Spain following the Spanish–American War in 1898 and it became United States territory. The Jones Act of 1916 made it official policy to grant Philippines independence and the Tydings–McDuffie Act of 1934 laid out the timeline and process by which that would happen, with independence fully recognized in ten years. Filipino immigration to the mainland United States started soon after the Philippines became a territory.

During the late 19th and early 20th Century, many Asians and Asian-Americans faced discrimination within the United States. Though United States nationals, but not United States citizens. Filipinos were not exempt from this nativist sentiment, particularly on the West Coast of the United States. Federal and state legislation and other policies that placed limits on Asian-American economic and social lives were applied to Filipinos. The Repatriation Act served as a way to encourage Filipinos to return to the Philippines voluntarily without officially deporting them, and a way for policy makers to act towards domestic sentiment without an international incident.[2]

The program was largely unsuccessful and transferred fewer than 2,200 Filipinos back to the Philippines, at a time when there were over 45,000 Filipinos reported in the 1930 census in the mainland United States. In the October 3, 1938 issue of Time, an article entitled "Philippine Flop" reported that 1,900 Filipinos had returned to the Philippines.[3] This failure has often been attributed to the fact that if any Filipino wished to return to the US during the tenure of this program then they would be facing an uphill battle against a quota of only 50 Filipinos allowed into the US per year.[2]

This act was deemed unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in 1940 after 2,190 Filipinos had returned to the Philippines.[1] It was succeeded by the Nationality Act of 1940.

## See also

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* History of the Philippines (1898–1946)

## References

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1. ^ a b c Johansen, Bruce E. "Filipino Repatriation Act of 1935". Immigrationinamerica.org. Immigrationinamerica.org. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
2. ^ a b Filipino Americans. 2006. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc.
3. ^ "RACES: Philippine Flop". Time. 3 October 1938. Archived from the original on February 14, 2005.

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Immigration to the United States and related topics

Relevant colonial era,
United States and
international laws

| 18th century|

* Nationality law in the American Colonies
* Plantation Act of 1740
* Naturalization Act of 1790 / 1795 / 1798

|

19th century|

* Naturalization Act of 1802
* Act to Encourage Immigration (1864)
* Civil Rights Act of 1866
* 14th Amendment (1868)
* Naturalization Act of 1870
* Page Act of 1875
* Immigration Act of 1882
* Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
* Scott Act of 1888
* Immigration Act of 1891
* Geary Act of 1892

20th century|

* Immigration Act of 1903
* Naturalization Act of 1906
* Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907
* Immigration Act of 1907
* Immigration Act of 1917
* Immigration Act of 1918
* Emergency Quota Act of 1921
* Cable Act of 1922
* Immigration Act of 1924
* Indian Citizenship Act of 1924
* Philippine Independence Act of 1934
* Filipino Repatriation Act of 1935
* Nationality Act of 1940
* Bracero Program (1942–1964)
* Chinese Exclusion Repeal Act of 1943
* War Brides Act of 1945
* Alien Fiancées and Fiancés Act of 1946
* Luce–Celler Act of 1946
* UN Refugee Convention (1951)
* Immigration and Nationality Act 1952 / 1965
* Refugee Act of 1980
* Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
* Family Fairness (1987)
* Amerasian Homecoming Act of 1987
* Immigration Act of 1990
* Immigration and Nationality Technical Corrections Act of 1994
* Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996
* Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996
* Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act of 1997
* American Competitiveness and Workforce Improvement Act of 1998

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