maintain diplomatic peace. Federal intervention President Roosevelt had three objectives to resolve the situation: showing Japan that the policies of California did not reflect the ideals of the entire country, forcing San Francisco to remove the segregation policies, and reaching a resolution to the Japanese immigration problem. Victor Metcalf, Secretary of Commerce and Labor, was sent to investigate the issue and to force the rescission of the policies. He was unsuccessful since local officials wanted Japanese exclusion. Roosevelt tried to pressure the school board, but it would not budge. On February 15, 1907, the parties came to a compromise. If Roosevelt could ensure the suspension of Japanese immigration, the school board would allow Japanese American students to attend public schools. The Japanese government did not want to harm its national pride or to suffer humiliation like the Qing government in 1882 in China from the Chinese Exclusion Act. The Japanese government agreed to stop granting passports to laborers who were trying to enter the United States unless such laborers were coming to occupy a formerly-acquired home; to join a parent, spouse, or child; or to assume active control of a previously-acquired farming enterprise. Concessions were agreed in a note consisting of six points a year later. The agreement was followed by the admission of students of Japanese ancestry into public schools. The adoption of the 1907 Agreement spurred the arrival of "picture brides," marriages of convenience made at a distance through photographs. By establishing marital bonds at a distance, women seeking to emigrate to the United States were able to gain a passport, and Japanese workers in America were able to gain a partner of their own nationality. Because of that provision, which helped close the gender gap within the community from a ratio of 7 men to every woman in 1910 to less than 2 to 1 by 1920, the Japanese American population continued to grow despite the Agreement's limits on immigration. The Gentlemen's Agreement was never written into a law passed by the US Congress but was an informal agreement between the United States and Japan, enacted via unilateral action by President Roosevelt. It was nullified by the Immigration Act of 1924, which legally banned all Asians from migrating to the United States. See also Japan–United States relations List of United States immigration laws Chinese Exclusion Act Immigration Act of 1917 Immigration Act of 1924 References Further reading