The first Chinese immigrants arrived in Minnesota in the
mid-1870s, almost all of them single working men escaping anti-
Asian violence in the western United States. Most settled in St.
Paul, Minneapolis, and Duluth, with the rest sparsely scattered
in outlying towns, including on the Iron Range. Nationally, the
Chinese population declined in the U.S. following the Chinese
Exclusion Act in 1882 which stopped almost all immigration to
the U.S. from China. However, the number of Chinese in Minnesota
increased at this time due to migration from western states. By
1910 there were almost 400 Chinese men in Minnesota, though only
a handful of Chinese families. In 1943 Congress repealed the
Chinese exclusion laws, although new laws still held immigration
from China down to a thin trickle. The law also made it
possiblefor the first time in U.S. historyfor Chinese immigrants
to become American citizens. The Immigration and Nationality Act
of 1965, which removed all immigration quotas based on national
origin, greatly i