Tracing the history of Chinese immigrants in the US
Written by Sabrina Axster
When discussing immigration in the US, we are likely to think of immigrants from Latin America. Looking back, Irish migrants or Italians might also come to one’s mind. Relatively little known is the history of Chinese immigrants in the US, and their impact on US society and the immigration system in place today.
In its exhibition “Chinese American: Exclusion/Inclusion,” the New York Historical Society sheds light on these aspects. It traces the links between China and the US and the experiences and plight of Chinese immigrants from 1783 until today. By showing how Chinese immigrants were perceived, how restrictive immigration legislations directly targeted them, and how in turn the immigrants themselves used legal avenues to ensure their protection, the exhibition provides insights to little known facts.
Restricting Chinese immigration to the US
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first ever immigration restriction law based on ethnicity and race in the United States. American workers at the time were increasingly concerned about their rights and status as laborers, and protested against the employment of Chinese workers during strikes and as a cheaper alternative to the local workforce. Slogans such as ‘The Chinese Must Go’ emerged and their contribution to agriculture, urbanization, and the building of railroads was largely dismissed. Amidst these growing tensions, Congress passed the legislation to prevent Chinese laborers from coming to the US.
The act excluded merchants, students, teachers, and diplomats so as not to negatively affect the trade between the two countries. Upon arrival, for the very first time, all Chinese immigrants had to prove their identity and legality, or alternatively might be denied entry. They had to undergo extensive physical exams and were subjected to intense interrogation. Many Chinese immigrants were held in detention camps for undetermined periods of time, causing significant psychological and physical distress.
Legislation in the following years created even tougher and more restrictive immigration policies. From 1909 all Chinese who either entered or resided in the US had to carry ‘Certificates of Identity’ – even babies. Changes in the legislation sometimes occurred while Chinese Americans had returned home to China for brief stints. Upon return they would find that their status of residency had changed, thus affecting their legal right to be in the US.
The Chinese Exclusion Act was only repealed in 1943 by the Magnuson Act, which allowed Chinese immigration to resume (but under a very restrictive national quota of only 105 per year), and permitted some Chinese immigrants in the US to become naturalized citizens.
‘Fake’ sons and daughters
During this time of exclusion, practices such as ‘fake’ sons and daughters emerged. Chinese families would pay large amounts of money or rely on family ties to send to the US their son or daughter as the child of a merchant family. Immigration officers started to subject children immigrants to long and detailed interviews.
While in some cases these attempts were successful, in other situations they failed with important repercussions for the merchant family members who had agreed to pose as parents – often resulting in deportation from the US.
Challenging restrictive immigration policies
Despite anti-Chinese sentiments and policies, Chinese immigrants continued coming to the US and some started challenging the legality of the restrictions imposed upon them. One of the most famous cases is Wong Kim Ark vs. the United States, a Supreme Court decision dating of 1898.
Wong Kim Ark was born to Chinese Parents in San Francisco in the early 1870s. In 1890 he visited China and was able to reenter the US. However, after he went to China again in 1894 and returned in 1895, he was barred from entry on the grounds that, as the child of Chinese parents, he was a Chinese subject rather than a US resident or citizen.
His lawyers took the case to the Supreme Court – for the first time the court was to decide on the status of a US-born child. On March 28, 1898, the Supreme Court ruled that Wong was a US citizen based on the fact that he was born on US soil. This landmark ruling established an important precedent, still valid today, affirming jus soli or birthright citizenship in the US, and therefore granting all children born on US soil automatic US citizenship.
Thinking about contemporary immigration
The racism, discrimination, and other challenges Chinese immigrants experienced in the past are still apparent today. Chinese and other immigrants from Asia, Africa, and Latin America in particular continue to face stigma and exclusion. Debates such as whether immigrants take away the jobs of American workers are as vivid today as they were in the late 1800s. Immigrants often continue to be measured only in terms of their economic utility, regardless of the cultural and social capital they bring to the US.
Moreover, the policies that applied to Chinese immigrants have shaped contemporary immigration law – both positively and negatively. They paved the way to affirming citizenship for all individuals born in the US, but also led to restrictive immigration policies and the notion of border control. Ways to circumvent these policies such as the creation of family ties, for example through fake marriages, are still in use today.
Even though the exhibition focuses on Chinese Americans, it does provide many avenues for reflection about how today’s immigrants are treated in the US and what key challenges they continue to face.
