Congress repeals Chinese exclusion while keeping strict quotas

Congress repeals the Chinese Exclusion Acts through the Magnuson Act, signed on December 17, 1943. The law allows Chinese immigrants to naturalize and permits a small annual immigration quota. The repeal comes during World War II, when China is a U.S. ally against Japan. Although the law ends the formal Chinese exclusion regime, the quota remains extremely restrictive and racial barriers persist. The repeal begins dismantling one of the clearest federal racial exclusion laws while preserving unequal immigration limits.