The act is defined by a federal assumption of eugenics as the framework for population management. Stricter controls mean fewer immigrants are allowed in.

“Congress recodified the health-related ground for inadmissibility to include any alien 'who is determined (in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services) to have a communicable disease of public health significance'" (Wasem, 2011).

The act uses ableist strategies to determine quotas and/or restrictions on different immigrant groups entering the United States. Italians are described as "dwarfish," Jews as "the polar opposite of our breed, very poor in physique," Portuguese/Greek/Syrians as "undersized," and Slavs as "slow-witted."

While most of the visible conversation about quotas is reflected above, what is also important is the silent assumptions that happen without public discourse: the quota for the entire African continent (minus Egypt) is 1,100 people, while for Germany, the place with the highest allowable immigrants, it is 51,227. Latin America is not mentioned at all and there are very small quotas for a variety of other places, including Syria and Australia.