Chinese Exclusion Act and Economic Racism

Immigration restriction laws can trace their roots to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. This act, the first major immigration law in the U.S, was put into place by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6th, 1882. The law, as its name reads, barred all Chinese immigrants, specifically laborers, from coming into America, while forbidding any Chinese with prior U.S. residence to obtain citizenship.  This act, a blatant example of immigration discrimination, provides a historical aspect of, not only xenophobia, but also economic racism that may still hold true today.

The Chinese Exclusion Act was designed to increase domestic jobs for American men by barring nearly all male Chinese workers, skilled and unskilled, from entering the country. The influx of Chinese immigrants to west coast America during the mid-nineteenth century provided U.S. companies with many workers at low cost. These Chinese laborers were instrumental in the construction of the American transcontinental railroad. While this work force originally helped the U.S. economy, tax revenue began to fall as American workers were overlooked for cheaper Chinese labor. In 1882, the Exclusion Act was created and expected to last ten years, before being extended in 1892, and finally made permanent in 1902. It wasn’t until 1943, when the Act was repealed, that Chinese immigrants could gain entry and seek citizenship in the U.S.

In looking back at this act, it seems ridiculous and unreasonable that an entire race could be banned from the U.S. based on their economic presence. However, with the current financial situation facing the U.S, and American companies hiring aliens based on cheap labor costs, could Congress ever reenact a law like this? It seems impossible in today’s world, but with enough support, would the U.S. put a ban on all immigration from, say, Mexico and Central America in order to protect jobs for other Americans? It's unlikely that this law could ever exist again, with today's immigration laws, but it's worth understanding the Chinese Exclusion Act and how destructive a similar act would be to racial tolerance in the U.S.

Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)." Open Collections Program: Immigration to the US,. Harvard.edu, n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2014. <http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/immigration/exclusion.html>.

"Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)." Our Documents -. Teaching With Documents: Using Primary Sources From the National Archives., n.d. Web. 18 Oct. 2014. <http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=47>.