The Act was expanded several times to apply to all persons of Chinese descent, each time imposing increasingly severe restrictions on immigration and naturalization.

To right the old wrong, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution in 2012, apologizing for the discriminating laws and the unjust treatment the Chinese American laborers received then.

Last May, the Chinese immigrants who worked on the transcontinental railroad were honored by being registered in the U.S. Department of Labor's Hall of Honor in Washington, D.C. More than 12,000 Chinese laborers are the first Asian-Americans to be introduced into the Hall since its creation in 1988.