Author: Anisha Desilva

One of the files I came across this trip was about Reidley or Ridley Whitely. In his questioning, he stated that he was a 31-year-old East Indian sailor. He said that he came to Brooklyn on or about August 1, 1922, as a crew member of a British vessel. One of the papers in his file stated that “he is a native of the Barred Zone; he cannot read; he has no friends or relatives in the United States; states he is ill and unable to maintain himself.[1] This paper is referring to is the Barred Zone Act (1917), which imposed literacy tests and barred immigration from the Asia-Pacific zone. Another page even recommends that he should also be deported because he was a person likely to become a public charge as well. When asked about his deserting, he replied that he never intended to desert his ship. He said that he “went ashore to buy some things but I was taken sick and the ship sailed without me.”[2] His sickness, illegal status and race make him more eligible to be declared as an LPC.

One question that I found interesting was when the Inspector asked him if he was addicted to the use of drugs. His response to that question was “no, but about a year ago, I was with four men, two Americans and two East Indians who gave me something to drink. Since then I have been sick-weakened joints, headache, and dizzy spells.”[3] At the time of his questioning, the United States experienced a nationwide prohibition. His possible consumption of alcohol furthers his status as an LPC. Another paper in his file stated that “he has the appearance of one who is or has been addicted to the use of drugs.”[4] This sentence, in particular, makes me wonder if his inspector his connecting his sickliness to drugs. If so, could this be an early case of racial profiling?

Whitely also said that he has been to the United States before 1922. On Ancenstry.com, I found that he journeyed from Liverpool to New York on January 22, 1919.[5] He came via the Cretic, which had numerous South Asians as crew members. While his exact position cannot be determined, his record recognizes him as a Bengalize man who is able to read. His literacy status from this 1919 manifest differs from his 1924 case file. Could his inspector be fibbing it to ensure that he would be deported?

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[1] Jones, Immigrant Inspector, Ellis Island, N.Y., August 26, 1924, File 55404/397; Court Transcript, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, (National Archives, Washington, DC.)

[2] Jones, Immigrant Inspector, Ellis Island, N.Y., August 26, 1924, File 55404/397; Court Transcript, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, (National Archives, Washington, DC.)

[3]Jones, Immigrant Inspector, Ellis Island, N.Y., August 26, 1924, File 55404/397; Court Transcript, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, (National Archives, Washington, DC.)

[4] Jones, Immigrant Inspector, Ellis Island, N.Y., August 26, 1924, File 55404/397; Court Transcript, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, (National Archives, Washington, DC.)

[5] Year: 1919; Arrival: New York, New York; Microfilm Serial: T715, 1897-1957; Microfilm Roll: Roll 2620; Line: 23; Page Number: 155

One of the files I came across this trip was a case on Tagar Singh. Singh was a 30-year-old Indian laborer and a British subject. Immigration officials found him guilty of violating the Immigration Act of (1907) on August 5th, 1914 in Eastport, Idaho. This act not only raised the immigration head tax to four dollars but also enforced the phrased “likely to become a public charge.” Two things that increased exclusion and furthered immigration official’s abilities to deny entry. According to J. B. Densmore, “that he was a person likely to become a public charge at the time of his entry into the United States; and that he entered without the inspection contemplated and requited by said Act…,”[1] Densmore continues saying that Singh should be returned back to India “at the expense of the appropriation on ‘Expense of Regulating Immigration, 1915.’”[2] These official statements and language demonstrate the growing anti-Indian sentiment nationwide.  In another letter to the commissioner, Densmore states that “the alien is now confined in the Spokane County Jail in default or bond at the expense of this Service.”[3] Densmore gathered all of these conclusions from Inspector Richardson’s interrogation of Tagar Singh.

In this interrogation, Singh admits that he entered the United States unlawfully. He also stated that he got sick a lot and suffers from rheumatism. His admission to this ailment must have been a cause for his indictment as an LPC. In addition to this was his lack of funds and having no friends or relatives in the United States. One thing I found most interesting about this case were the questions the Inspector asked about other Hindu men that Singh came into contact with. For example, Inspector Richardson asked, “Were there lots of Hindus on that boat?”[4] Richardson kept asking questions regarding the number of Hindu men where Singh worked with, lived with, and came with to Canada. This specific introspection might indicate the growing surveillance relationship between Canada and the United States. As wells as an increasing concern for possible Hindu political dissidence.

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[1] Densmore, Department of Labor, Acting Secretary of Labor, Seattle, W.A., September 19th, 1914, File 53852/10; Court Transcript, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, (National Archives, Washington, DC.)

[2] Densmore, Department of Labor, Acting Secretary of Labor, Seattle, W.A., September 19th, 1914, File 53852/10; Court Transcript, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, (National Archives, Washington, DC.)

[3] Densmore, Department of Labor, Acting Secretary of Labor, Seattle, W.A., September 19th, 1914, File 53852/10; Court Transcript, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, (National Archives, Washington, DC.)

[4] Richardson, Spokane Immigration Service, Inspector, Seattle, W.A., August 15, 1914, File 53852/10; Court Transcript, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, (National Archives, Washington, DC.)

The first National Archive’s trip was such an exciting experience. I found that files not only varied in size or thickness but even contained recommendations, bonds statements and pictures. Though I was not fortunate to find files on my group’s research topic, the rest of my group was able to. One of the files was about a Portuguese East Indian, Gastano P. Moronan, entering Ellis Island in 1918.  He was 26 years old and was born on the island of Goa. Also, his last job was a marine chief chef on the ship, Murphy, in Port-au-Spain, Trinidad. The only documents he was carrying was his identification card and a passport. When reading this file, I became very interested in his classification as a ‘Portuguese East Indian.’ I think that Moronan was trying to use ‘Portuguese’ to either elevate or separate him from the racial status as an East Indian. Claiming a more ‘white’ race could possibly push his inspector to overlook that he’s native to a country included in the Barred Zone Act of 1917.

The most interesting question that asked Moronan was asked during his interview was why he didn’t ask the American Consul to give him new papers. Earlier in his questioning, he previously told the Inspector that he lost all his documents in the burning of Murphy. In response to that question, he said, “The American Consul said that (indicating passport) his ok oh.”[1] This answer I believe is one of the factors that lead Inspector Bruno and the Board to exclude him from the United States. In addition, his lack of documents also made him look very suspicious too. The ambiguity on whether his passport was a valid means of identification, demonstrates how the administration manipulated laws and their meanings. 

[1]Bruno, Ellis Island, Immigrant Inspector, New York Harbor, N.Y., December 7, 1918, File 54436-253; Court Transcript, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, (National Archives, Washington, DC.)