Chinese Exclusion Act

The Chinese Exclusion Act prohibits all immigration of Chinese laborers after there was a growing unrest from American union groups on cheap labor from Chinese laborers. This act was signed by president Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882. This law was intended to last for only a decade, but it was renewed in 1892 and made permanent in 1902. It was finally repealed by the Magnuson Act on December 17, 1943.   

 

California Gold Rush (1848-1855)

The first significant Chinese immigration wave started with the California Gold Rush and during the industrialization projects, such as the First Transcontinental Railroad. Initially, the Chinese were welcomed. But, as god began to dwindle, many blamed the Chinese and other foreign immigrants. The Chinese settled in the cities and was forced to took up low paying jobs, such as restaurant cleaners and laundry workers. Soon, labor leader, Denis Kearney and his Workingman's Party, Supreme Order of Caucasians, and the California Governor, John Bigler, all blamed the Chinese for the declining wage levels. 

 

In 1858, California passed a law that made it illegal for any person of Chinese or Mongolian descent to enter the state. However, this law was struck down by an unpublished opinion of the State Supreme Court in 1862.  

 

As more and more Chinese migrants arrived in California, violence often breaks out in the cities. In1878, Congress decided to passed legislation excluding the Chinese, but it was was rejected by President Rutherford B. Hayes. 

 

By 1879, California adopted a new law that allows state government to determine which individuals will be able to live within the country. The new law also banned the Chinese from being employed by corporations and in the state, county or municipal governments.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Law Passed

In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed. It excluded Chinese laborers mine workers from entering the country for ten years under penalty of imprisonment and deportation. 

Chinese families were left with two options; stay in the United States alone or go back to China to reunite with their families. Any Chinese who left the United States had to obtain certifications for reentry, and Chinese immigrants were excluded from U.S. citizenship. Many Chinese men in the U.S. had little chance to reunite with their wives or starting new families. However, some capitalists and entrepreneurs resisted their exclusion because they accepted lower wages. 

 

Proceeding Laws

The Scott Act (1888) expanded upon the Chinese Exclusion Act, prohibited Asian immigrants from reentering U.S.

 

The 1892 Geary Act requires “each Chinese resident to register and obtain a certificate of residence. Without a certificate, he or she faced deportation."

 

Immigration Act of 1924 restricted immigration even further, excluding all classes of Chinese immigrants and extending restrictions to other Asian immigrant groups. Until these restrictions were relaxed in the middle of the twentieth century, Chinese immigrants were forced to live a life apart, and to build a society in which they could survive on their own (Chinatown).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Law Abolished 

The Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed by the 1943 Magnuson Act, during a time when China had become an ally of the U.S. against Japan in World War II. The Magnuson Act permitted Chinese nationals already residing in the country to become naturalized citizens and erase their fear from deportation. It also allowed a national quota of 105 Chinese immigrants per year. Large-scale Chinese immigration did not occur until the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. Despite the fact that the exclusion act was repealed in 1943, the law in California prohibiting Chinese people from marrying whites was not repealed until 1948. Other states had such laws until 1967  when the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Loving v. Virginia that anti-miscegenation laws are unconstitutional.

 

Aftermath

On June 18, 2012, the United States House of Representatives passed a resolution introduced by Congresswoman Judy Chu, that formally expresses the regret of the House of Representatives for the Chinese Exclusion Act, which imposed almost total restrictions on Chinese immigration and naturalization and denied Chinese-Americans basic freedoms because of their ethnicity.The resolution had been approved by the U.S. Senate in October 2011.