Chinese community leaders from around the United States gathered in Washington D.C. on May 8, to start negotiations of the Chinese Exclusion Law for the first time, which was enacted by the United States Congress in 1882. They hope to push the United States Congress to pass laws as soon as possible to formally apologize to the Chinese people.
The Chinese Exclusion Law is the only immigration exclusion act in the history of the United States that excludes a certain ethnic immigrant. Xue Haipei, the chairman of the Chinese National Committee of the United States said that May 2010 is the 129th anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Law. They will take this opportunity to promote the apology bill as their primary task in 2010 and 2011.
Currently, more than 100 ethnic groups and thousands of individuals have signed a petition letter to the U.S. federal government. The petition letter will soon be submitted to President Barack Obama and members of both houses in government. Since then, the related lobbying work, the drafting of the motion will also be introduced.