Origins

• In 1913, California was experiencing a wave of new immigration from Asia, particularly China and Japan. Californian farmers were worried about competition from Japanese farmers, whose methods were adapted to making efficient use of relatively small plots of land. This prompted the passing of the Alien Land Act.
  
  

Response

• Japanese-Americans and the Japanese government denounced the Act. Many found a loophole by buying land in the name of their children born in the United States, who were citizens by constitutional definition. In 1920, an updated version of the law was passed, closing this loophole. During the anti-Japanese scares of World War II, California made land laws even stricter and began prosecuting more cases.
  
  

Repeal

• In the 1952 court case Sei Fujii v. California, the California Supreme Court found the Alien Land Acts to be in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, which requires equal protection under the law. They were repealed by the state legislature in 1956.