Essay: An Overview of Immigration to the United States During the Cold War

by Tiffany Thompson

August 2025

Notice of rally at the Hippodrome to fight communism, location unknown. (National Archives): https://catalog.archives.gov/id/348540006

The Cold War (1947-1991) was a period of geopolitical and ideological conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union, generally considered the world’s “superpowers,” and their respective allies. In the most basic sense, the Cold War was a clash between capitalism and communism, with the proponents of each ideology claiming that their way of structuring politics, economics and society was superior.¹

On the western side, the United States promoted democratic forms of government with capitalist economies that were favorable to trade with the United States. Leaving the individual to their own devices with little interference or support from the government was a hallmark of this political orientation. This Western Bloc also included most of Western Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan, amongst others.

Conversely, the Soviet Union sought to establish soviet republics that would defer to Moscow, its capital, with the goal of reorganizing economies and societies with the collective good in mind. The Soviet Union’s Eastern Bloc allies included much of Central and Eastern Europe, China, Cuba, and Vietnam, as well as many others. The Western and Eastern Blocs were ideological enemies, and leaders on each side sought to contain the spread and influence of their opponents’ ideas and power in unaligned nations.

Typically, the period between 1924 and 1965, which includes the first half of the Cold War, is known as the Era of Restriction for U.S. immigration. The Immigration Restriction Act of 1924 prevented immigration from Asia and introduced the quota system for migrants from other regions, which severely

limited immigration to the United States. However, even during the Era of Restriction, hundreds of thousands of immigrants arrived in the United States each year. The significance of migration policies and patterns to United States foreign policy and national security during the Cold War is often overlooked.

While it is referred to as a “cold” war because the United States and Soviet Union never formally declared war directly against one another, both superpowers were involved in well over 50 proxy wars throughout this period. They were called proxy wars because the United States and Soviet Union did not fight directly. Instead, they supported opposing sides of armed conflicts with military support, economic assistance and/or material aid, such as the Paraguayan Civil War in 1947 and the Afghan Civil War in 1989. Often, these brutal proxy wars either forced people to flee their homeland or compelled people to migrate in search of safer lives. At the same time, life in Eastern Bloc countries was often restrictive, and people left seeking greater individual freedom and economic prosperity. For millions of people, this meant risking their lives to escape to Western Bloc countries.

Even migration from unaligned countries was shaped by American perceptions and anxieties about the Cold War, and tensions often emerged between foreign policy, labor and immigration. Studying the close connection between foreign policy and immigration policy during this era reveals how migration to the United States was directly shaped by the Cold War. It also shows how the diversity of the United States was a direct consequence of U.S. interventions around the world during the Cold War.

The Cold War emerged in the aftermath of the Second World War (1939-1945), particularly as the United States and Soviet Union vied for influence over Europe. The war had devastating consequences for people around the world, and in Europe it left at least 40 million people displaced across the continent. Displacement refers to the involuntary movement of people away from their home or homeland because of conflict, violence and/or threats to their safety. Displaced persons might leave their home permanently or temporarily in search of refuge and may or may not cross international borders. A refugee, on the other hand, is any person forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another. Not all displaced persons are refugees, nor are all refugees displaced persons, but many of the people who migrated to the U.S. during the Cold War fell into one or both categories.

Airmen and Their Japanese Dates “Do” the Town Together, Visiting the Local Points of Interest (National Archives): https://catalog.archives.gov/id/404793312

Economic and labor migration was also influenced by Cold War policies and paranoia. During the Second World War, the U.S. experienced extreme labor shortages. To fill agricultural labor shortages, the Bracero Program (1942-1964) was created by an agreement between the Mexican and U.S. governments to permit Mexican citizens to take temporary agricultural work in the U.S. with certain guaranteed benefits and protections. The Bracero Program continued well after the war and was the largest guest worker program in United States history. More than 5 million employment contracts were offered over the course of the program, and, at its peak, more than 300,000 contracts were allotted per year. There is a long history of laborers moving across the U.S.-Mexico borderlands that predates the existence of these national borders, and Mexican labor has been essential to American agriculture in the southwest since the 19^th century.

Mexican Farm Workers Who have been Accepted for Farm Labor in the U.S. through the Braceros Program (National Archives): https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7452192

Within one year, more than 1 million people were subjected to the traumatic experience of being forcibly “returned” to Mexico. Deportees typically faced harsh treatment at the hands of INS agents and were stranded without food, money or employment in parts of Mexico with which they were unfamiliar. Many struggled to find their way home and to continue to financially support their families. Ultimately, the Bracero Program was discontinued in 1964 because of the rampant exploitation of immigrant workers by businesses and large farms. This only accelerated illegal immigration because the agricultural industry relied heavily on immigrant labor, and those workers depended on the income they secured during seasonal work.

During the 1960s, some U.S. political leaders began to address calls from within and beyond U.S. borders that American society did not reflect the values of democracy, freedom and equality that many claimed made the Western Bloc superior to the Eastern Bloc. In large part, this meant responding to civil rights groups across the United States advocating equality for all citizens, but it also included immigration reform.² The Migration and Refugee Assistance Act of 1962 provided monetary assistance to refugees, particularly those fleeing communist countries, and allowed nearly 20,000 refugees to enter the U.S. over the next few years.

It was under President Johnson’s administration that congress passed the most ambitious immigration reform legislation since the 1920s. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 formally abolished the restrictive quota system, ending the de facto discrimination of Asians as well as Southern and Eastern Europeans. American politicians did not anticipate a massive influx of migrants following this reform, however, 18 million immigrants moved legally to the U.S. over the next 30 years, more than three times the number permitted in the previous 30 years. This reform had a profound impact on the diversity of American society as it enabled the immigration of millions of people from Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, Mexico and Central and Southern America.

During the second half of the 20^th century, proxy wars continued to create refugee crises around the world, and many people resettled in the United States as a result. Perhaps most significantly, the United States fought a violent war in Vietnam against the communist regime, which resulted in one of the largest and longest refugee crises in history. Between 1975 and 1995, more than 3 million people fled Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, with more than 1 million people resettling in the United States.

Pro-Vietnam war demonstration [New York] (Library of Congress): https://www.loc.gov/resource/gtfy.08437/

During the second half of the 20^th century, proxy wars continued to create refugee crises around the world, and many people resettled in the United States as a result. Perhaps most significantly, the United States fought a violent war in Vietnam against the communist regime, which resulted in one of the largest and longest refugee crises in history. Between 1975 and 1995, more than 3 million people fled Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, with more than 1 million people resettling in the United States.

The Refugee Act of 1980 transformed previous policies by redefining a refugee to match the United Nations official definition as any person who is outside their country of nationality or habitual residence and is unable or unwilling to return due to “a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion.” It also raised the annual number of refugees to 50,000 individuals and gave the president authority to admit additional refugees during emergencies. This allowed refugees from Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, the Caribbean and Central America to resettle in the United States.

American foreign policy in the 1980s was best symbolized by the Reagan Doctrine, with President Reagan declaring the United States would “defy Soviet-supported aggression” on every continent. His administration intervened in Central American wars and revolutions in support of anti-communist regimes. In pursuit of this policy, the Unites States supported oppressive governments and political groups in Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador that committed human rights atrocities, including a genocide during the Guatemalan Civil War. As a result, between 1980 and 1991, 1 million refugees from Central America sought asylum in the United States. Initially it was quite difficult for Central Americans to seek asylum in the United States, but a religious and political campaign involving more than 500 congregations, the Sanctuary Movement, advocated for new policies to help these refugees.

Throughout the Cold War, it was incredibly difficult for people to leave the Soviet Union and satellite states like East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. Many people found life under these communist regimes oppressive and restrictive, and some even attempted to flee to “the West” by illegally crossing borders. This could range from life-threating attempts to cross the Berlin Wall and other borders, securing forged documents to pass through immigration checkpoints or seeking asylum as political dissidents.

In the 1970s, American leaders leveraged economic incentives to provide a way out of Eastern Bloc countries. The Trade Act of 1974 granted the Soviet Union the right to trade with the United States as long as the Soviet Union allowed free emigration. This assisted around 500,000 Jewish, Catholic and other Christian refugees to emigrate to the United States.

Finally, when the Soviet Union began to collapse in 1990, the regime lifted all restrictions on immigration and hundreds of thousands of Russians, along with people from other former Soviet countries, resettled in the United States. Since the end of the Cold War, Eastern Europeans have made up the largest percentage of European migrants to the United States.

The Cold War dominated much of 20^th century American history. While part of this period was defined by an era of immigration restriction, migration was central to the Cold War. American leaders often understood foreign policy and immigration policy as related to larger schemes to combat the threat of global communism, and migration to the United States was directly shaped by American military, economic and political involvement on the world stage. As such, the diversity of the United States today is a direct consequence of Cold War geopolitics. Various wars, revolutions and crises around the world resulted in millions of people resettling in the United States.

Endnotes

¹ Capitalism: an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Defining characteristics include private property, market economy (with competitive, free markets and free trade), accumulation of wealth (capital), property rights and wage labor. There is a strong emphasis on individualism, innovation and economic growth.

Communism: a social, political and economic ideology within the wider socialist movement. Communist societies seek to restructure life around common ownership of the means of production and the distribution of wealth, goods and resources to everyone in society based on need. Defining characteristics include abolition of private property, destruction of social class, voluntary self-governance, collectivism and the supremacy of the proletariat.

² For example: Black Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, Chicano Movement, Yellow Power/Asian American Movement, Second Wave Feminism, Gay Liberation, among others. See: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Speech “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” (1967) for an example of this critique of American society. Also, “And you are lynching Negroes” was a common satirical response from Russians that highlighted the hypocrisy of American accusations of human rights violations in the Soviet Union.

Tiffany Thompson is a doctoral candidate in the Boston College history department studying modern Irish and British history with a focus on gender and migration. Her research explores the impact of Northern Ireland’s Troubles on displaced and refugee women during the 1970s.

This resource is sponsored in part by the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Eastern Region Program, coordinated by Waynesburg University.

Important U.S. Immigration Legislation

• Immigration Restriction Act of 1924
• War Brides Act of 1945
• Displaced Persons Act of 1948
• Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952
• Refugee Relief Act of 1953
• Bracero Program (1942-1964)
• Migration and Refugee Act of 1962
• Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965
• Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966
• Trade Act of 1974
• Refugee Act of 1980

Key Terms

• Soviet Union
• The Cold War
• Capitalism
• Communism
• Western Bloc
• Eastern Bloc
• Era of Restriction
• Proxy War
• Paraguayan Civil War in 1947
• Afghan Civil War in 1989
• Second World War
• Displacement
• Displaced Person
• Refugee
• Hungarian Revolution of 1956
• Korean War
• Immigration and Naturalization Services
• Operation Wetback
• Red Scare
• Cuban Revolution
• Cuban Refugee Children Program
• Freedom Flights
• Vietnam War
• Reagan Doctrine
• Sanctuary Movement