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| Long title | An Act to repeal the Chinese Exclusion Acts, to establish quotas, and for other purposes. |
|---|---|
| Acronyms(colloquial) | CERA |
| Nicknames | Magnuson Act |
| Enacted by | the78th United States Congress |
| Effective | December 17, 1943 |
| Citations | |
| Public law | Pub. L. 78–199 |
| Statutes at Large | 57 Stat. 600 |
| Codification | |
| Acts repealed | Chinese Exclusion Act |
| Titles amended | 8 U.S.C.: Aliens and Nationality |
| U.S.C. sections amended | 8 U.S.C. ch. 7 §§ 262-297 & 299 |
| Legislative history | |
| |
TheChinese Exclusion Repeal Act of 1943, orMagnuson Act of 1943, was animmigration law proposed by US Representative (later Senator)Warren G. Magnuson ofWashington and signed into law on December 17, 1943, in the United States.[1] It allowedChinese immigration for the first time since theChinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and permitted someChinese immigrants already residing in the country to becomenaturalized citizens. However, in many states,Chinese Americans (mostly immigrants but sometimes US citizens) were denied property-ownership rights eitherby law orde facto until the Chinese Exclusion Repeal Act itself wasfully repealed in 1965.[2]
This act is the first legislation since 1870 which relaxed racial and national immigration barriers in the United States and started the way to the completely non-racial immigration legislation and policy of the late 1960s.
The Chinese Exclusion Repeal Act was passed on December 17, 1943, two years after theRepublic of China became an officialallied nation of the United States inWorld War II. Although considered a positive development by many, it was still restrictive, limiting Chinese immigrants to an annual quota of 105 newentry visas. The quota was determined according to theNational Origins Formula prescribed by theImmigration Act of 1924, which set immigration quotas on countries subject to the law as a fraction of 150,000 in proportion to the number of inhabitants of that nationality residing in the United States as of the1920 census, which for China was determined to be 0.07%, or 105 per annum.[3][4] Chinese immigration later increased with the passage of theImmigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which abolished the National Origins Formula.[5][6][7]
