what is the chinese exclusion act

The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, which prohibited all immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. The law made exceptions for merchants, teachers, students, travelers, and diplomats. This act was the first significant restriction on free immigration in U.S. history, and it excluded Chinese laborers from the country under penalty of imprisonment and deportation. The act also made Chinese immigrants permanent aliens by excluding them from U.S. citizenship. Chinese immigrants in the U.S. had little chance of ever reuniting with their families or of starting families in their new home. The act required the few non-laborers who sought entry to the United States (such as diplomatic officers) to obtain certification from the Chinese government that they were qualified to immigrate. When the exclusion act expired in 1892, Congress extended it for 10 years in the form of the Geary Act, which added restrictions by requiring each Chinese resident to register and obtain a certificate of residence. The Chinese Exclusion Acts were not repealed until 1943, and then only in the interests of aiding the war effort in World War II.