Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division

Afro-Caribbeans seeking to enter the United States were required to obtain permission from American consulates in the Caribbean. This was no easy undertaking, however. With American society having what was termed "The Negro Problem," the United States government was hostile to black immigration. As a consequence, its consulates in the Caribbean erected barriers to Afro-Caribbean immigration; they succeeded in keeping large numbers of people from migrating. The American policy was a contributing factor in the selective character of Caribbean immigration.