Which act suspended Chinese immigration to the United States and was the first major federal restriction targeting an ethnic group?

• A. Interstate Commerce Act
• B. Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882
• C. Social Security Act of 1935
• D. Gentleman's Agreement (1907-1908)

Answer: (B)

The main idea here is how the government used a law to limit who could immigrate based on ethnicity, creating a precedent for race-based immigration policy. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 did exactly that: it suspended Chinese immigration for a period and prevented Chinese from becoming naturalized citizens. This was the first major federal statute aimed at a specific ethnic group, reflecting the era’s strong anti-Chinese sentiment and labor tensions on the West Coast. It established a formal, national approach to restricting immigration and set the stage for later, more extensive restrictions through the 1920s. The other options don’t fit this pattern: federal acts about railroads or welfare aren’t about immigration, and the Gentlemen’s Agreement was an informal understanding rather than a formal law.