“In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, the first federal law to single out an entire group for immigration exclusion based on race and class. Initially passed as a temporary measure to bar Chinese laborers; it prohibited Chinese immigrants from becoming naturalized citizens, made it harder for all Chinese, including American citizens of Chinese descent, to enter and reenter the country, until the law was repealed in 1943” (Erika Lee) This lasted 61 years