Chinese Exclusion Act

A U.S. federal law passed in 1882 that prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the U.S. Fueled by anti-Chinese hate in California (where Chinese migrants were working as miners), the Act lasted 10 years. However, it wasn’t until 1943, when the U.S. and China were allies in WWII, that Chinese immigration resumed. It’s the first law to prevent all members of a specific ethnic or national group from immigrating to the U.S.