Guarding the golden door : American immigration policy and immigrants since 1882 The federal governments efforts to pick and choose among the multitude of immigrants seeking to enter the United States began with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Conceived in ignorance and falsely presented to the public it had undreamt of consequences and this pattern has been rarely deviated from since. As renowned historian Roger Daniels shows in this brilliant new work Americas inconsistent often illogical and always cumbersome immigration policy has profoundly affected our recent past