what is restrictive immigration laws

3 answers

a United States federal law that limited the annual number of immigrants who could be admitted from any country to 2% of the number of people from that country who were already living in the United States
That was one. Another was to ban the admission of anyone from China. Another is to restrict the number of people who can enter the United States from any one country (it varied, depending on the country). It is any law that puts limits on the number of immigrants who can legally migrate to the U.S.A. based on race, nationality, or any other arbitrary reason.
http://history.state.gov/milestones/1921-1936/immigration-act