ultimate independence of the Philippines, which had been acquired in 1898. Wilson increased self-governance on the islands by granting Filipinos greater control over the Philippine Legislature. The Jones Act of 1916 committed the United States to the eventual independence of the Philippines; independence took place in 1946. In 1916, Wilson purchased by treaty the Danish West Indies, renamed as the United States Virgin Islands. Immigration from Europe declined significantly once World War I began and Wilson paid little attention to the issue during his presidency. However, he looked favorably upon the "new immigrants" from southern and eastern Europe, and twice vetoed laws passed by Congress intended to restrict their entry, though the later veto was overridden. Judicial appointments Wilson nominated three men to the United States Supreme Court, all of whom were confirmed by the U.S. Senate. In 1914, Wilson nominated sitting Attorney General James Clark McReynolds. Despite his credentials as an ardent trust buster, McReynolds became a staple of the court's conservative bloc until his retirement in 1941. According to Berg, Wilson considered appointing McReynolds one of his biggest mistakes in office. In 1916, Wilson nominated Louis Brandeis to the Court, setting off a major debate in the Senate over Brandeis's progressive ideology and his religion; Brandeis was the first Jewish nominee to the Supreme Court. Ultimately, Wilson was able to convince Senate Democrats to vote to confirm Brandeis who served on the court until 1939. In contrast to McReynolds, Brandeis became one of the court's leading progressive voices. When a second vacancy arose in 1916, Wilson appointed progressive lawyer John Hessin Clarke. Clarke was confirmed by the Senate and served on the Court until retiring in 1922. First-term foreign policy Latin America Wilson sought to move away from the foreign policy of his predecessors, which he viewed as imperialistic, and he rejected Taft's Dollar Diplomacy. Nonetheless, he frequently intervened in Latin American affairs, saying in 1913: "I am going to teach the South American republics to elect good men." The 1914 Bryan–Chamorro Treaty converted Nicaragua into a de facto protectorate, and the U.S. stationed soldiers there throughout Wilson's presidency. The Wilson administration sent troops to occupy the Dominican Republic and intervene in Haiti, and Wilson also authorized military interventions in Cuba, Panama, and Honduras. Wilson took office during the Mexican Revolution, which had begun in 1911 after liberals overthrew the military dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz. Shortly before Wilson