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In 1875, Congress passed the Page Act. The Page Act signaled a shift in American immigration policy. Rather than define who could come in to the United States, this act sought to define who could not come to the United States. The Page Act—often neglected in the study of American immigration laws—was, in many ways, a precursor to the more frequently studied Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. After the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, anti-Chinese hostility rose throughout the U.S. but became much more visible in the West Coast. Chinese laborers, who had been instrumental to the completion of the rail, were now seen as foreign competition for scarce jobs.
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The Page Act prevented the immigration of anyone from “China, Japan, or any Oriental country” who was coming into the United States for contract labor. It also sought to ban single women from these countries from entering the United States because it was feared these women were entering the U.S. for immoral purposes (like prostitution). The Act, therefore, was justified as something to protect American families and homes by eliminating coolie labor competition (thereby protecting an American standard of living) and preventing prostitutes from seducing American men and introducing foreign diseases to the nation.
In 1952, the Immigration and Nationality Act (or McCarran-Walter Act) was passed. This act upheld the national origin quotas, but also ended Asian exclusion. The decision to retain immigration quotas was based on concerns about communist infiltration and the threat of communist immigrants to the foundations of American society. The quotas in the McCarran-Walter Act were set at one-sixth of one percent of each nationality’s population in the 1920 census. It continued with the tradition of excluding Western Hemisphere nations form the quota system. The Act also focused on family reunification and prioritized immigrants with special skills. Which are policies that remain to this day.
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===Selected Suggested Readings===
Bernard Bailyn, ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0394757793/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0394757793&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=385e6491ad67dc8b6699e0ba5a53dbf3 The Peopling of British North America: An Introduction]'', New York: Vintage Books, 1986.
Eithne Luibheid, ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0816638047/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=Selected Suggested Readings1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0816638047&linkCode=Bernard Bailyn, ''The People of British North Americaas2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=0b6f726d568cca664ba1d5b9590b3871 Entry Denied: An IntroductionControlling Sexuality at the Border]'', New YorkMinneapolis: Vintage BooksUniversity of Minnesota Press, 19862002.
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===References===
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