Back in the day the U.S. responded by shutting out the world. The Wilson Administration’s Justice Department took the most flagrant action, instituting the Palmer Raids. Rounding up several thousand anarchists and communists–confirmed or suspected–the department actually deported 249 of them to Russia on the U.S.S. Buford. With enormous support from lawmakers three Presidents signed immigration restrictions into law. President Calvin Coolidge signed the Johnson-Reed Act, which (to his regret) included the infamous Asian Exclusion and halted Japanese immigration.
Forbes, “Frank Immigration Talk”
