In the late 19th century, many Chinese nationals had immigrated to the United States to work on the railroads and escape troubled times in China. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 authorized the United States government to suspend all Chinese immigration into the United States for a period of 10 years. The Act is historically notable for the fact that it was the first U.S. immigration law targeted at a specific group of nationals. The Act was amended two years later to be even more restrictive, including reducing the situations in which a Chinese immigrant could leave the United States and return to it. The Act was renewed for several decades until it was repealed in 1943 by the Magnuson Act (see below).

Geary Act

The Geary Act of 1892 served to extend the Chinese Exclusion Act when it was first scheduled to expire. In addition to maintaining the near-prohibition on Chinese immigration, it targeted the rights of Chinese immigrants already in the United States. The Act required any Chinese resident in the United States to carry a special identification card for Chinese nationals. If a Chinese national were caught without the identification card, the national could be deported or sentenced to a labor camp. In addition, the Geary Act restricted the criminal and civil legal rights afforded most people in the United States.

Magnuson Act

In 1943, the Magnuson Act greatly changed the immigration scene with respect to Chinese living in and attempting to enter the United States. The Act repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act, thereby permitting Chinese immigration once again. The Act also allowed Chinese nationals living in the United States to apply for and become naturalized citizens for the first time since the late 18th century. Although the Magnuson Act was a big step with respect to Chinese immigration, it still had significant limitations. It only authorized a small annual quota of Chinese immigrants - 105 people. It was not until the Immigration Act of 1965 that Chinese nationals were allowed to immigrate to the United States in numbers comparable to those numbers of other foreign nations.

Chinese Student Protection Act

The Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992 was enacted in response to the Tiananmen Square protests and subsequent government crackdown in China in 1989. The Act granted permanent residency to all Chinese nationals who arrived in the United States on or before April 11, 1990. The purpose of the Act was to prevent political persecution of students involved in the Tiananmen protests, but the Act applied to any Chinese national in the United States - regardless of student status and regardless of under what circumstances the Chinese national entered the United States.

Copyright 2010 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.