Introduction
Today, Asians are the largest group of USA immigrants followed by the Hispanics. By 2012, the number of Chinese immigrants exceeds 2.1 million ( Ong, J., Ong, P., & Ong, E. 2016 ). In many respects, the Chinese were motivated to migrate to the United States by the same issues that brought other groups of immigrants into the country. Some came to mine gold in the gold mountains while other came to search for better economic opportunities. Also, some were forced to leave China and came to the US as refugees or contract laborers. The Chinese brought with them their culture, language, customs, and social institutions. Their immigration into the United States can be broken down into three periods: 1849-82 and 1882-1965 as well as 1965 to the present. Despite being the majority, Chinese immigrants have had to endure some of the worst oppressive and events in the United States. This paper looks into four different events and their impacts on the lives of Chinese Immigrants. It explores the following Acts; the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, the 1943 Repeal of Chinese Exclusion Act, and the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act as well as the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act.
Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
The first wave of Chinese immigrants came to the United States as early as 1849. As time progressed, thousands young Chinese male peasants left their rural nationals to work in West America. They were hired to extract minerals and metals, build an extensive railroad network, construct irrigation systems, develop the fish industry, reclaim swamplands, operate competitive manufacturing industries, and to work as agricultural laborers ( Soennichsen, 2011 ). Before the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act was passed, the population of Chinese immigrants in the United States was approximately one-hundred-and-ten- thousand.
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The Act was approved by the Congress and signed into law by President Chester A. Arthur in 1882, hence becoming the first federal law of its kind in federal legislation to unequivocally suspend the immigration of a particular nationality. The Act prohibited both skilled and unskilled Chinese workers employed in mines from coming to the United States. Following amendment ensured that all Chinese immigrants who had left the country would not come back. Initially, the Act lasted for ten years. However, with Geary Act, it was extended by ten more years until 1892. The Geary Act required all Chinese immigrants to carry identification certificates failure to which they would face deportation ( Ewing, 2012 ). The Congress further extended the Act for another ten years in 1902 before making it permanent in 1904. The Chinese Exclusion Act resulted from the widespread anti-Chinese movement in the United States in the last half of 19 th century. At first, Chinese-immigrants worked in gold mines, where they proved to be gold finding machines. As such, they faced hostilities and were progressively forced out of the fields and relocated to urban areas like San Francisco ( Soennichsen, 2011 ). Once in urban areas, they were constrained to performing the hardest and dirtiest work.
The exclusion laws had drastic effects on Chinese immigrants. Apart from reducing their population, the laws prohibited those who had left from returning to the United States. According to the 1880 US census, the Chinese-immigrants population was 105,465 which reduced to 89,863 in 1900 and further to 61,639 by 1920. They were also placed under extreme government scrutiny and were denied entry into the country on any grounds continuously. Upon arrival at Angel Island Immigration Station in San Francisco, the immigrants were detained for days to years before they were either denied or granted entry. As a community, the Chinese endured drastic changes. Not only were businesses closed down, but also families were torn apart. Following strict restrictions on female immigration, a largely bachelor society emerged among the Chinese. In addition, Chinatowns with Chinese social and cultural practices developed as a result of continuing anti-Chinese pressure. The excluded Chinese also used different avenues such as the courts, the media, and petitions to protest against this apparent racial discrimination. Others simply circumnavigated the law and immigrated into the country illegally from Canada and Mexico ( Soennichsen, 2011 ). The affected of the exclusion act surpassed marginalizing and restricting the Chinese and ironically activated them. It marked a change from open immigration policy to government-controlled immigration.
The 1943 Repeal of Chinese Exclusion Act
In 1943, the United States Congress approved a measure to reverse the racially discriminatory exclusion laws imposed on the Chinese immigrants. Just as they were the first people to be denied entry into the US at the start of immigration restriction era, the Chinese became the first people to be accepted into the country in the liberalization era. The repeal proceeded with little objection primarily because the United States had laid down numerous measure to ensure that it was almost impossible for Chinese immigrants to enter the country even in the absence of the Chinese Exclusion Act ( Ewing, 2012 ). One such measure was the 1924 Immigration Act. It stated that US citizenship ineligible aliens were prohibited from entering the US, the Chinese inclusive. The repeal was good news to the Chinese and other Asian immigrants particularly those who had relatives within the states.
On the contrary, the government decided to go further and adopted an annual quota system from the immigration act of 1924 to control the population of Chinese immigrants. Unlike in the case of other immigrants whose quota was calculated based on nationalism, Chinese immigrants’ quota was calculated based on their race. As such, the federal government arrived at a quota of 105 visas per annum after getting a percentage of the entire population of people of Chinese origin rescinding in the United States ( Ewing, 2012 ). That implied that any Chinese immigrating to the country from anywhere in the globe would count against the Chinese quota, irrespective of whether they held Chinese nationality or never been to China.
The Repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act had a tremendous effect on both the Chinese immigrants, the US, as well as other immigrants. It reopened the entry to Chinese immigrants into the nation after a period of over sixty-year exclusion. However, the qualification standards were raised with only the educated, teachers, and students alongside their relatives getting the entry. The repeal also pushed the then President Roosevelt to call for the correction of Chinese injustices. This is because China and the United States were allies against the Imperial Japanese and the elimination of exclusion laws imposed on Chinese immigrants was deemed crucial to winning the war. The repeal of the exclusion act also created the way for the 1946 measures to admit Asian-Indian and Filipino immigrants ( Li, & Skop, 2010 ). The exclusion of these two groups had damaged United States relationship with India and Philippines.
The 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act
Like the previous act, this 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act retained the nationalism quota system founded in Immigration Act of 1924. In addition, the Act also ended Asian immigration to the US as well as introduced a family reunification and skill sets based preference system ( Rausa, 2012 ). The Act adopted national quotas at a one-six rate of the immigrant's population in the US in 1920.
The Immigration and Nationalism Act of 1952 impacted the lives of the Chinese immigrants in numerous ways. Although in reality, the act continued to discriminate against the Chinese, it created symbolic opportunities for the immigrants. The law reversed the remaining measures prohibiting Chinese immigration and removed laws inhibiting the immigrants from becoming naturalized citizens of the United States ( Rausa, 2012) . However, the law still upheld the race-based quota system instead of nationality. Moreover, the act established a labor certification system meant to ensure that immigrants did not create unwanted job competition for American workers.
The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act
This act was an amendment to the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act. The law eliminated nation origin, ancestry or race as an immigration basis to the US. The law also upheld the preference system for US citizen relatives and allowed residents as well as people with special training, abilities, and skills. In addition, the act created new categories of people who should not be subjected to the numerical restriction. That is special immigrants and immediate relatives of United States citizens ( Bennett, 1966 ). This was the relief the Chinese immigrants were looking forward to for almost a century of discrimination. The act liberated all Chinese immigrants from this racial oppression structure. The law also created two categories of Chinese immigrants. The first group comprises of highly selected and educated Chinese while the second group consists of immigrants running away from political instabilities in their countries.
Conclusion
The plight of Chinese immigrants in the United States dates back to the 19 th century. Since the migrants first arrived in America, they have constantly faced opposition and hostilities of different forms. The 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, denied them all rights to enter the country and had the devastating impact on them. The 1943 Repeal of Chinese Exclusion Act and the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act tried to ease the racial oppression but did not completely remove all the barriers to facilitate immigration into the US. Following the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, all measures put in place to prohibit their entry into the country were removed. Moreover, they were allowed to become American citizens by naturalizations. Preceding amendments to this law has increased the immigration of Chinese, and as of today, they form the largest immigrant population in the United States.
References
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Rausa, Bettina (2012). "Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (US)." Encyclopaedia of Immigrant Health : Springer New York, 2012 884-885.
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