14. The first restrictive federal immigration law in United States history, the Page Act barred Chinese women from entering the country out of fear they would give birth to American citizens
Chiefly coinciding with the California Gold Rush, Chinese migration to America provoked considerable consternation. Concerned about the effects of the Chinese upon white moral purity, these cultural fears were amplified by the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment. Stipulating that all persons born in the United States were automatically citizens, white Americans became outraged that Chinese females, an increasing prevalence and commonly employed as prostitutes, would beget American citizens. Responding to the “serious threats to white values, lives, and futures”, in 1875 Congress instituted the Page Act.
The first restrictive federal immigration law in American history, signaling an end to the era of open borders, the Page Act prohibited the entry of Chinese women into the United States. Proposed by Representative Horace Page to “end the danger of cheap Chinese labor and immoral Chinese women”, the bill barred “undesirable immigrants” whilst simultaneously expanding the definition of undesirable to encompass East Asian women. Heavily enforced, with a fine of $2,000 and a year in prison for those found in violation, the efficacy of the act was brutal. By 1880, the Page Act had successfully decreased the proportion of females among the nation’s Chinese population to just 4.6 percent.