Timeline: Asian-American History
Asian immigration to America, 1600s to the present

by David Johnson
1900s 1913 1920s 1940s Next: 1950–Present
1903
Korean workers enter Hawaii. Filipino students arrive in U.S under the pensionado program, an effort to modernize and democratize the Philippines.
1907
Filipino laborers land in Hawaii. Asian Indians driven from Bellingham, Washington.
1913
California passes law to prevent aliens ineligible for citizenship from owning land.
1924
In response to concerns about rising immigration, Immigration Act establishes strict quotas based on national origin according to the 1880 census, effectively ending Asian immigration.
1942
In wake of anti-Japanese sentiment following the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt signs order interning Japanese.
1943
Congress repeals Chinese exclusion laws, sets immigration quotas, and extends citizenship rights to Chinese living in U.S.
1949
Communist Revolution in China, 5,000 Chinese refugees enter U.S.
Next Page
Next: McCarran-Walter Act abolishes race an immigration criterion, sets quotas by nation.
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