Once singled out for exclusion by law from the United States, Chinese immigrants now make up the largest single group of arrivals a year into this country. The Census Bureau says China replaced Mexico as the top country of origin for immigrants to the U.S. in 2013.

Given the history, this growth – and the fact that Chinese immigrants are considered part of the Asian-American "model minority" – seems improbable. But the story of Chinese immigration, past and present reminds how fickle our attitudes about immigrants can prove.

On the wrong side of history

Although many of today's Chinese immigrants are students and investors, earlier Chinese immigrants were considered the lowest of the low-skilled.. Chinese sailors were among the crew on a ship that arrived in Baltimore in 1784. Chinese immigrants were living in New York City in the 1830s. And Chinese were among the thousands of gold seekers who rushed into California during the Gold Rush in the mid-19th century. By 1870, there were 64,000 Chinese in the United States, most of them in California, and almost all of them from the Pearl River Delta outside Guangzhou in southern China.

These Chinese immigrants faced a tremendous hostility, despite amounting to only a small fraction of the total foreign-born population in the United States in the late 19^th century. They were charged with taking away jobs, corrupting white women, and threatening American civilization. In 1882, the U.S. passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which barred Chinese laborers, prohibited all Chinese immigrants from becoming naturalized citizens, and allowed only select classes of Chinese to apply for admission.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/07/07/chinese-immigrants-largest-column/29784905/