Chinese Exclusion Act

The Chinese Exclusion Act ( German: Law to the exclusion of the Chinese ) was a United States federal law that was passed by the U.S. Congress on May 6, 1882. The Chinese Exclusion Act resulted in content continues in 1880 was the revision of the 1868 Burlingame Treaty closed. With the revision of the Burlingame Treaty immigration of Chinese migrants had been suspended in the United States, a measure which has been enshrined in law with the Chinese Exclusion Act.

History and Policy

The Chinese Exclusion Act stipulated that for a period of 10 years no Chinese workers (English: laborers ) were more immigrate to the United States. Even applicants who were businessmen or highly skilled professionals were often summarily classified as workers, to deny them entry.

1884 followed Supplement Act ( Chinese Exclusion Act, 1884 Amendments), which made ​​it difficult to immigration. So it was denied immigrants to return to the U.S. after an exit again. The restrictions were extended to the Chinese ethnic group, regardless of the nationality of an applicant. The provisions of the Chinese Exclusion Acts were subsequently applied also to the Chinese who are citizens of other countries than China had. Even American citizens of Chinese origin were not exempt. Through the 1892 Geary Act adopted the validity of the provisions of the Chinese Exclusion Act was extended for 10 years. 1902 was a further extension, this time indefinitely.

It was not until 1943 with the Magnuson Act of the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed tend. The immigration of Chinese applicants was approved in principle again, fell as a result of the general immigration laws of 1921 and 1924, however, under a quota system, after a year were allowed to enter no more than 105 Chinese movers. Only with the Immigration and Nationality Services Act of 1965, these quotas were lifted, so that only from 1965 again Chinese immigrants in significant numbers of entry into the United States was made possible.

Background

In the first half of the 19th century, relatively few Chinese immigrated to the United States. It was only in 1853 increased the number of Chinese immigrants. According to official statistics in 1853 were only 42 Chinese to America - although the actual number of Chinese entering the United States is likely to have higher altitude of 13,100 Chinese immigrants have been registered in 1854. In 1880 there were about 100,000 Chinese in America, most of them on the west coast in California and in Honolulu / Hawaii.

The "Chinese Exclusion Act " was caused by an anti - Chinese political trend in the western United States. Against the backdrop of an economic crisis in the 1870s was seen as the Chinese immigrants, the risk of wage dumping and competitors for the few remaining jobs. However, since the proportion of Chinese in the total number of immigrants was relatively low, and in 1854 only amounted to 3.1 %, in 1882 it stood at about 5.0 % (about 39,000 ), the adoption of the " Chinese Exclusion Acts, " which was directed exclusively against Chinese, probably associated mainly with a xenophobia and racism, attributed anti-Chinese nativism.

The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first immigration law in U.S. history, which restricted the immigration of a group of people because of their ethnicity. In a negotiated by the U.S. and the Imperial Japanese Government lock ( Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907) was almost 25 years later, also limits the influx of Japanese in the United States. Also in Australia, Canada and New Zealand were temporarily laws that the U.S. Chinese Exclusion Act had an analogous ethno- restrictive tendency.

Despite the Chinese Exclusion Act and the relevant laws that followed, ripped the influx of Chinese immigrants in the U.S. is not completely. The number of immigrants from China, however, declined dramatically. From 1910 to 1940, the Immigration and Naturalization Service ran a port of entry on Angel Iceland in San Francisco, where one Chinese applicants for months had to wait for permission to enter. Due to the deterioration of the status and the widespread Sino phobia left in the following decades, tens of thousands of Chinese who had already lived in the U.S., the country.