The Chinese Exclusion Law has a lot to do with racism. First, it was the first law to restrict immigrants from entering the United States. There were many other laws that restricted immigration, but those came after the Chinese Exclusion Act. Many people were racist towards the Chinese before the law because of the gold rushes and their religion. Religion As the Chinese came to America and practiced their religion, they established places of worship and practiced Buddhism. The Pigtail Ordinance was a law passed that forced Chinese people who had long hair to cut it. This law was the first step that led to a lot of racism towards Chinese and other Asian cultures and peoples. The flow of immigration was stopped by the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. This act outlawed all Chinese immigration to the United States and denied citizenship to those who had already settled in the country. Revived in 1892 and fully expanded in 1902, China's population declined until the law was repealed in 1943 by the Magnuson Act. Taxes and Laws Many Western states passed discriminatory laws that made it difficult for Chinese and Japanese immigrants to obtain land and find work. Some of these anti-Chinese laws involved the foreign miners' licensing fee which required a monthly payment of $3 from each foreign worker. Foreign Chinese could not become voters due to the Naturalization Act of 1790 which reserved naturalized citizenship for "free whites". This remained in place until the repeal of the Civil Rights Act of 1870. By then, the American state had collected $5 million from the Chinese. Defending free white labor from competition with Chinese Asian labor and discouraging the immigration of Chinese to the State of California” was another… middle of paper… period of time in which white Americans discriminated against Chinese immigrants. It was called "Yellow Peril" because they called the Chinese yellow and made other racist jokes about them. This was not only applied to the Chinese but also to the Japanese. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Yellow Peril intensified even more and many more people became racist among Chinese and Japanese. After the recession of 1853, many Californians sought cheap labor to capitalize on profits. Chinese immigrants came to America for a variety of reasons, including working in the Pearl River Delta region. and other company of significantly fast trade routes to the United States and the attraction of gold As a result of their lower demand for wages and their inclination to form self-sufficient communities without support, Chinese immigrants have become the best employment option for. many people..