The Chinese Exclusion Act significantly decreased the number of Chinese immigrants in the United States: according to the U.S. national census, there were 105,465 in 1880, compared with 89,863 by 1900 and 61,639 by 1920. It signaled the shift from a previously open immigration policy to one where criteria were set regarding who—in terms of ethnicity, gender, and class—could be admitted. Immigration patterns, immigration communities, and racial identities and categories were significantly affected.
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