Signed on May 6, 1882 by President Chester Arthur, the Chinese Exclusion Act halted immigration of Chinese laborers into the United States and prevented them from becoming citizens. It was the first major law restricting immigration to the United States and the first to target a specific ethnic group. The law was motivated by economic fears as well as racist sentiments towards the Chinese. It was renewed in 1892, made permanent in 1902, and ultimately repealed in 1943 as a result of the United States wartime alliance with China in World War II.
