The Chinese Exclusion Act was passed on May 8, 1882 and signed into law by President Chester A. Arthur. It was the first piece of national immigration legislation that prevented all members of a specific ethnic or national group from immigrating. However, it built off a long history of state and federal efforts to exclude "undesirable" Chinese immigrants from the United States.
State Efforts:
The California Gold Rush of 1848-1855 and the subsequent public works projects, such as the building of the First Transcontinental Railroad, spurred the first significant wave of Chinese immigration. During these times where cheap labor was in large demand, the presence of Chinese immigrants was tolerated. However, as the gold supply began to dwindle and competition increased, animosity towards the Chinese and other foreign immigrants increased. State legislators passed the Foreign Miner's Tax in order to forcibly drive them from the mining industry. Supported by the unions, the Workingman's Party, and the governor of California, legislators began to pass even more restrictive laws on Chinese labor, behavior, and even living conditions (e.g. the "Anti-Coolie Act" which imposed a monthly tax on Chinese immigrants seeking to do business within the State of California and the "Pigtail Ordinance" which forced prisoners in San Francisco to have their hair cut to within an inch of their scalps). While most of these pieces of legislation were overturned by state Supreme Courts, many anti-Chinese laws continued to be passed. In 1858, the California Legislature passed a law that made it illegal for any person "of the Chinese or Mongolian races" to enter the state (but was struck down in 1862). However, once California adopted a new constitution in 1879 which explicitly gave the state government the power to regulate what individuals were allowed to reside in the state, the state legislature promptly banned Chinese people from employment by corporations and the state and local governments.
Federal Efforts:
In 1875, the federal government pass the Page Act, which was the first restrict federal immigration law in the United States, and effectively marked the end of 'open borders' in the United States. The Page Act was introduced in order to "end the danger of cheap Chinese labor and immoral Chinese women". Though the law technically barred immigrants who were considered "undesirable" (this was defined as any person from East Asia who was coming to the US as a forced laborer, any East Asian woman who would engage in prostitution, and all people considered to be convicts in their own country), it was only effectively and heavily enforced against East Asian women who were trying to immigrate - especially Chinese women. The Page Act created the policing of immigrants around sexuality which has come to be extended to every immigrant who seeks to enter America, and remains a central feature of immigration restriction.
In 1878, Congress attempted to ban immigration from China but that piece of legislation was vetoed by President Rutherford B. Hayes.
Finally, in 1882, the federal government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which banned the immigration of China laborers, skilled and unskilled, for a period of 10 years. This was the first time that federal law restricted entry of an ethnic working group because of the premise that it endangered local interests. Though some non-laborers were able to obtain certification during this time, it became incredibly difficult to do so, meaning that it was largely diplomatic officials and officers on business that were able to enter the United States. The Act also affected Chinese Americans who had already settled in the US, as it required any Chinese people who left the States to obtain certifications for reentry and made Chinese immigrants permanent aliens by excluding them from U.S. Citizenship. Later amendments made in 1884 and the passage of the Scott Act began to tighten the provisions that allowed immigrants to leave and return to the point where it was impossible for Chinese immigrants to leave and come back, thus estranging many families.
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