Chinese in Washington: The legacy of the Chinese Exclusion Act
by Trish Hackett Nicola
Available at your local bookstore
How the U.S. law targeting Chinese impacted families for generations.
Near the end of the nineteenth century, after the railroads were completed and the gold mines exhausted, an economic downturn fueled anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States. Capitalizing on this prejudice, the federal government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, restricting immigration and denying naturalization to people of Chinese descent. Over time, the law grew increasingly harsh. By 1892, Chinese residents were required to obtain certificates of residency or identity and carry them at all times; failure to do so could result in imprisonment or deportation. Interrogations, affidavits, and testimony from Caucasian witnesses became necessary to prove the right to remain in the country. The Act remained in force until its repeal in 1943.
Chinese in Washington: The Legacy of the Chinese Exclusion Act draws on case files from the National Archives at Seattle that document how these laws were enforced in everyday life. Though the files are not full biographies, the interviews conducted by immigration authorities reveal fragments of individual lives—family ties, occupations, movements, and fears. Most files include at least one photograph, offering a rare and humanizing glimpse of the people whose lives were shaped by exclusion.