This Friday, I went on my second trip to the National archives in order to research my group topic for Immigration history class In between the two trips, the topic of the group project had changed, as it switched from the broader topic of the workings of Angel island and the disparities between the treatment of the Chinese and the Japanese (in terms of medical treatment and interrogations) to the narrower topic of Habeas Corpus and deportation. Due to me, not emailing the professor my research number beforehand; I had to wait for the staff to pull the immigrations papers that I asked for. When I finally got my papers at 3:00; I started to comb over them and write the information down on my computer; instead of using the must faster method of taking pictures on my phone; because I was saving my phone battery for my trip to Philadelphia. During my look at the immigration papers, I found a lot of appeals from either son of merchants or Chinese Americans who can here before the Chinese exclusion act. I also found a lot of papers about Asian children that arrived either unsupervised or with their parents into the port of San Francisco and were able to enter the United States. Here are some examples of the records:
54790/57
Ting Chuck Fan was 63 years old when he arrived in America as a merchant of the firm of Lun Sing & CO. He was detained because the Bureau was unable to find his name on the partnership of the firm, He arrived in America multiple times in the past, but law changed after the last time he left the US. *(There was a need for pre-investigation of witnesses and merchants) This was also compounded on the fact that most his witnesses were put on a “blacklist” (Does not exist). He was later released .[1]
54790/64
Tom Wing Sing came on SS Nile and was the son of Citizen. He was initially denied for not satisfy evidence as to claimed relationship as there was a Disparity in the testimony of the immigrants (use of Burial grounds and whether or not he attended school) [2]
54790/69
Wong Kee claimed to be a merchant’s son but was denied due to lack of evidence and disparities in his
Testimony (such as birth date, last
time he saw father, if his father was even in the United States ) was thought
to have committed fraud.[3]
54072/3
Kimoto Ohta was a girl of sixteen from China who came to America in order to stay with her father, she was admitted into the United states after she was found out by the review board as a sound and prominent individual. [4]
54072/21
Love Ceon Chong was a merchant who came to the United States February 8th 1928 and was deported June 28 1916 , but was able to file for appeal for a return certificate was denied [5]
54072/40
Hisa Ito was a Japanese photo bride who arrived on April 7, 1916, but was detained of trachoma, and was able to appeal for a rehearing for consideration for hospital treatment, it is unknown whether or not she got her treatment. [6]
All these records could help my group understand the judicial concept of Habeas Corpus and how it can apply to Asian immigrants. Another benefit that these records can apply to the project is the different between the Japanese and the Chinese experience of the Appeal system. The records of the children that I found can also reveal to the rest of the group, how the appeal court in Washington was lenient on children. Some of these records also reveal a bias or an unwellness among the staff of angel island to accept any Chinese or Japanese immigrants. Another thing about the records that I noticed is that the interrogation questions reveal a need for detail among the staff of the angel island, as these people like to know about every detail of the house and village that the Chinese immigrant used to live in. This is because; as was revealed on the angel island movie, the Chinese did not record where people lived at the time. Another part of that movie that I was reminded of when I went through the records was the part about paper sons and picture brides.
1.Commisioner of Immigration, letter, San Francisco, California, File: 54790/57
Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, (National Archives, Washington D.C.)
2. Commissioner of Immigration, letter, San Francisco, California, File: 54790/64
Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, (National Archives, Washington D.C.)
3. Commissioner of Immigration, letter, San Francisco, California, File: 54790/69
Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, (National Archives, Washington D.C.)
4.Commisioner of Immigration, letter, San Francisco, California, September 30, 1915, File: 54072/3
Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, (National Archives, Washington D.C.)
5. Commissioner of Immigration, letter, San Francisco, California, July 1, 1916, File: 54072/21, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, (National Archives, Washington D.C.)
6. . Commissioner of Immigration, letter, San Francisco, California, April 4, 1916, File: 54072/40
Records of the Immigration and Naturalization
Service, (National Archives, Washington D.C.)