Chinese Exclusion Act is adopted in Washington, D.C.

Signed by President Chester Arthur, the law prohibits Chinese immigration except for the wives and children of laborers already living in the U.S. The first federal law to restrict immigration by geography or race, it is described by Sen. George Frisbie Hoar (R-Mass.) as “nothing less than the legalization of racial discrimination.” It is extended by Congress in 1892, made permanent in 1902, and finally repealed n 1943.* While it is in effect, the law severely restricts the growth of the Chinese community in Boston.