(06-09-2018, 05:38 PM)B2hibry Wrote:

(06-09-2018, 02:34 PM)mikesez Wrote: Apples and oranges.  Before about 1920, you could come and work.  The act you cite gave the President authority to deport people only if they had done something specifically wrong.  It did not say no one from certain places was welcome.  It did not say that only X number of people can come.  Those things didn't start until the 1920s.

Actually he is partially correct. 1790 offered the first time exclusion occured based on race. You weren’t getting in if you were Asian unless brought over illegally to help with western expansion. You couldn’t become a citizen if you were black, Asian, American Indian or even an indentured servant (regardless of race). In the 1920s additional limitation for all nationalities were implemented based on some origins quota formula and whether you were considered an enemy to the U.S. There were several lesser know laws inbetween that allowed for deportation for criminal acts, whether they were undesirable, and other crazy rationale.

A quick read says that the Alien Friends Act was only in effect for 10 or 11 years. It says that it was part of the Alien and Sedition Acts, which are famous for the fact that Thomas Jefferson felt they were unconstitutional. I'm not finding any part of the Alien Friends Act which related to any specific race, Asian or otherwise. The large number of Chinese who came over to work on the railroads came over legally, speaking as a matter of federal law. The state of California did attempt, unsuccessfully, to exclude their children from citizenship, but it was established fact at the time that whether or not the adults could come and work was a federal matter. And the Feds allowed it until 1868.

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