Chinese Exclusion Act

Chinese Exclusion Act
Nicknames	Chinese Exclusion Act
Enacted by	the 47th United States Congress
Effective	May 6, 1882
Citations
Public law	Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 47–126
Statutes at Large	22 Stat. 58, Chap. 126
Legislative history
	Introduced in the House as H.R. 5804 by Horace F. Page (R–CA) on April 12, 1882; Committee consideration by House Foreign Relations; Passed the House on April 17, 1882 Votes 88R 102D Not Voting 52 (202–37); Passed the Senate on April 28, 1882 Votes 9R 22D Not Voting 29 (32–15) with amendment; House agreed to Senate amendment on May 3, 1882 (Agreed); Signed into law by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882;

The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. The law made exceptions for merchants, teachers, students, travelers, and diplomats.^[2] The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first major U.S. law ever implemented to prevent all members of a specific national group from immigrating to the United States, and therefore helped shape twentieth-century race-based immigration policy.^[3]^[4]

Passage of the law was preceded by growing anti-Chinese sentiment and anti-Chinese violence, as well as various policies targeting Chinese migrants.^[5] The act followed the Angell Treaty of 1880, a set of revisions to the U.S.–China Burlingame Treaty of 1868 that allowed the U.S. to suspend Chinese immigration. The act was initially intended to last for 10 years, but was renewed and strengthened in 1892 with the Geary Act and made permanent in 1902. These laws attempted to stop all Chinese immigration into the United States for ten years, with exceptions for diplomats, teachers, students, merchants, and travelers. They were widely evaded.^[6]

In 1898 the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Wong Kim Ark that the law did not prevent the children of Chinese immigrants born in the United States from acquiring birthright citizenship.

The law remained in force until the passage of the Magnuson Act in 1943, which repealed the exclusion and allowed 105 Chinese immigrants to enter the United States each year. Chinese immigration later increased with the passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which abolished direct racial barriers, and later by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which abolished the National Origins Formula.^[7]

^ Tracey, Liz (2022-05-19). "The Chinese Exclusion Act: Annotated". JSTOR Daily. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
^ Cite error: The named reference Lee2002 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Chinese Exclusion Act | Definition, History, & Facts | Britannica". 21 July 2023.
^ Ow, Jeffrey A. (October 2009). "Immigration at the Golden Gate: Passenger Ships, Exclusion, and Angel Island". Journal of American Ethnic History. 29 (1): 72–73. doi:10.2307/40543565. JSTOR 40543565. S2CID 254489490.
^ Lew-Williams, Beth (2018). The Chinese Must Go: Violence, Exclusion, and the Making of the Alien in America. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-97601-6.^{[page needed]}
^ Cite error: The named reference ErikaLee was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Wei, William. "The Chinese-American Experience: An Introduction". HarpWeek. Archived from the original on 2014-01-26. Retrieved 2014-02-05.

[1] Tracey, Liz (2022-05-19). "The Chinese Exclusion Act: Annotated". JSTOR Daily. Retrieved 2024-04-24.

[Lee2002-2] Cite error: The named reference Lee2002 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[britannica-3] "Chinese Exclusion Act | Definition, History, & Facts | Britannica". 21 July 2023.

[4] Ow, Jeffrey A. (October 2009). "Immigration at the Golden Gate: Passenger Ships, Exclusion, and Angel Island". Journal of American Ethnic History. 29 (1): 72–73. doi:10.2307/40543565. JSTOR 40543565. S2CID 254489490.

[5] Lew-Williams, Beth (2018). The Chinese Must Go: Violence, Exclusion, and the Making of the Alien in America. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-97601-6.^{[page needed]}

[ErikaLee-6] Cite error: The named reference ErikaLee was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[7] Wei, William. "The Chinese-American Experience: An Introduction". HarpWeek. Archived from the original on 2014-01-26. Retrieved 2014-02-05.

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