Introduction
Throughout our research on Habeas Corpus, one of the most Interesting topics I came across was the differences between the Japanese and the Chinese immigrants who came to Angel Island. During the Chinese exclusion period from 1882 to 1940, Chinese immigrants were excluded from entering the United States due to the fear among the government and populace; that their immigration to the country would destroy American culture. But unlike the Chinese immigrants, the Japanese immigrants were able to get favorable conditions when it came to the immigration services; due to treaties that the United States made with Japan concerning immigration. This was mostly due to the fear of Japanese retaliation on the American economy, or reputation if America attempted to exclude the Japanese from America. This allowed the Japanese who immigrated to America to get less detection time when detained on Angel Island for processing. The Japanese were also able to get shorter and easier questions in the interrogation sessions than the Chinese who got complicated and detailed questions during their interrogations. This favored treatment was formally ended with the passing of the National Origins act in 1924, which set quotas on the number of immigrants from Asia. While the discrimination against the Chinese would ultimately end after World War 2.
Case File: 53902/20
Lee Chow was son of native Lee Kor Bin (who was absent from the case as he was in China at the time),who arrived on April 9 1915 and was deported a day later. He was denied entrance due to discrepancies in the testimonies of his landed brothers in the date of their grandfathers death and the location of the parents’ house in China. During the interrogation Lee Chow had to answer questions like : “What was the location of his house?”; or how many rooms did his parents have?”. His fathers friends Kin Yee Wong Jue, Tom Qui, and Kung Ning vouched for him and helped him with the appeal process and were also interrogated with questions. These questions pertained to Lee Kor Bin and his activities in the United States; like his job status, how much they known the man, and whether or not they knew that he invested money into Expoadition company. But these testimonies were dismissed on the case that the people who testified were not white. He then ruled to be excluded from the country by immigration services.
Cases File: 54072/3 , 54072/5
Nobuyoshi Ito(who arrived in order to live with his father Tsunematsu Ito) on the other hand was accepted into America and had to answer short and simple questions like “how old he was?” and “how long he went to school in Japan?”. When his father was interrogated, he had to answer questions like “how much money he had in the bank?”, and “how many acres of farmland that he had?“. He was accepted into the country, with approval from all of the interrogation officials. Masaru Tamada ( who was 14 years old at the time) on the other hand arrived 1915 August 10th, in order to live with his father Heichichi Tamada. Most of the questions pertaining to him were similar to the ones of Nobuyoshi Ito, while the interrogation of his father pertained to what he did in the United States, “how much money did he have in the bank?”, and whether or not he could take care of his son. After this interrogation session, Masaru Tamada was admitted into the country.
Sources
Commissioner General of Immigration, Washington D.C. March 16, 1916, File 54072/3 , accession E9, Subject Correspondence, 1906-1932, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, RG 85 (National Archives, Washington, DC).
Commissioner General of Immigration, Washington D.C. March 16, 1916, File 54072/5 , accession E9, Subject Correspondence, 1906-1932, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, RG 85 (National Archives, Washington, DC).
Commissioner General of Immigration, Washington D.C. March 16, 1916, File 53902/20 , accession E9, Subject Correspondence, 1906-1932, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, RG 85 (National Archives, Washington, DC).
Lee, Erika, and Yung, Judy. 2012. Angel Island: Immigrant Gateway to America. New York: Oxford University Press, Incorporated. Accessed November 10, 2019. ProQuest Ebook Central