Daily AncestorAsiatic Barred Zone
The Asiatic Barred Zone was the region of Asia and the Pacific whose natives the Immigration Act of 1917 barred from entering, with Japan and the Philippines left out.
The 1917 law, best known for the literacy test, defined a zone covering much of Asia and the Pacific Islands and excluded anyone born there. Japan was left out because of the Gentlemen's Agreement, and the Philippines because it was a U.S. colony whose people were U.S. nationals. Chinese were already barred under the exclusion laws.
The same act raised the head tax to $8. In 1924 the bar on aliens ineligible to citizenship extended the exclusion to Japan as well.
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Daily Ancestor. "Asiatic Barred Zone." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/immigration/asiatic-barred-zone. Last checked 2026-10-12.