The United States has always been a nation of immigrants. However, by the late 1800s, the federal government and various state governments began to enact rules to restrict immigration. Some people in the United States feared that immigrants caused increased competition for jobs, while others opposed new immigrants because of racism. In 1882, the U.S. Congress enacted, and President Chester A. Arthur signed, the Chinese Exclusion Act, which banned new immigration from China for ten years, with some exceptions for students, teachers, and merchants. In 1892, the law was made permanent. The Immigration Act of 1924 placed further restrictions on immigrants from East Asia and set a quota system for migrants from the region, and it created the Border Patrol to enforce immigration laws. Like other migrants to the United States, most Chinese were fleeing repression or seeking economic opportunities.