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Long title | An Act to provide for the adjustment of status under the Immigration and Nationality Act of certain nationals of the People's Republic of China unless conditions permit their return in safety to that foreign state. |
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Acronyms (colloquial) | CSPA |
Nicknames | Chinese Student Protection Act of 1991 |
Enacted by | the 102nd United States Congress |
Effective | October 9, 1992 |
Citations | |
Public law | 102-404 |
Statutes at Large | 106 Stat. 1969 |
Codification | |
Titles amended | 8 U.S.C.: Aliens and Nationality |
U.S.C. sections amended | 8 U.S.C. ch. 12, subch. II § 1255 |
Legislative history | |
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Prior to the Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992 (CSPA), President George H.W Bush issued Executive Order 12711 in 1990. This policy implementation was solidified by the actual Act in 1992. The Act's main sponsors were Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for the House of Representatives and Senator Slade Gorton (R-WA) for the Senate. The Chinese Student Protection Act of 1992 was passed on May 21, 1992, by the Senate, and passed by the House of Representatives on August 10, 1992. President George H. W. Bush signed it into law on October 9, 1992. The Chinese Student Protection Act became Public Law 102-404, 106 Stat. 1969.
The Chinese Student Protection Act established permanent residence for Chinese nationals that came to the United States from June 5, 1989, to April 11, 1990. The Act was targeted towards students. The CSPA was prompted by the political repression the Chinese faced after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. Chinese students who were in the United States during the time of the protests participated in TV interviews, demonstration rallies, and were featured in newspaper articles. Chinese nationals were eligible to apply for permanent residency, even with expired passports. Over the years, the Act granted green cards to an estimated number of 54,000 Chinese nationals.[1]
The green cards were called "blood cards" by the Chinese, as a “pejorative term for the green cards awarded to their countrymen who, by virtue of their presence in the U.S. at the time, were eligible for the Chinese Student Protection Act.”[2]