Although Asian Americans enjoy the image of a "successful minority," they also have endured hardships and prejudices. This report traces the history of the Japanese and Chinese experience in the United States. Some similarities are discernible in the immigration patterns of the two ethnic populations. The first wave of immigrants…

With heavy immigration fueled by U.S. immigration law changes in 1965 and the influx of over 700,000 Indochinese refugees since the Vietnam War ended in 1975, Asian Americans grew from 1.4 million in 1970 to 3.5 million, 1.5% of the U.S. population, by the April 1980 census and an estimated 5.1 million, 2.1% of the U.S. total, as of September 30,…