Chinese immigrants arrived in Texas in the 1870s and 1880s, primarily to build railroads and work as laborers. These early immigrants faced harsh working conditions, racism, and violence, including Judge Roy Bean's reported 1884 ruling that it was not illegal to kill a Chinese. As anti-Chinese sentiment spread through the western and southern states, Congress restricted immigration through the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, the only U.S. law to exclude a specific race from immigrating, and it also denied citizenship to Chinese Americans. In Houston, where discrimination was common, the Chinese community numbered only 50 in 1930 but began to grow as immigrants came from other southern states. Chinese students in Houston could attend public schools with whites, and Chinese Texans soon began attending state universities. Through the efforts of American-born Chinese, economic and social injustices began to be righted, including the defeat in 1937 of a proposed Texas law that would have prevented Chinese from owning urban property after testimony by Edward K.T. Chen and Rose Don Wu. In 1943, the Magnuson Act repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act, and the Chinese American Citizens Alliance, including its Houston branch under Albert C.B. Gee, helped pass the immigration act of 1965, paving the way for large-scale Chinese immigration. Chinese Texans have continued to make a vital impact on politics and culture in Texas while standing as a tribute to immigrants who withstood discrimination and thrived.