Foreign Miners Act

The Foreign Miners Act of 1850 was not a U.S. federal law. Instead, the state of California enacted a foreign miners' tax. This tax imposed a monthly fee on foreign-born miners, primarily targeting Chinese immigrants who had come to California during the Gold Rush.

The intent was to discourage foreign miners and reserve mining opportunities for white Americans. This discriminatory measure led to significant hardship and resentment among Chinese miners, contributing to the broader anti-immigrant sentiment that later culminated in federal legislation like the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first U.S. federal law to explicitly suspend immigration for a specific nationality, prohibiting Chinese laborers from entering the country.12