The Chinese community was forced to make various compromises in their lifestyles in order to adjust under the harsh legislation and the discrimination it justified.
"At Angel Island, Chinese were interrogated about precise information regarding their exempt status from the Exclusion Act and their life. They could be detained from weeks to years before being granted or denied entry to America."
-Professor Madeline Hsu (Student interview)
-Professor Madeline Hsu (Student interview)
"We spent a year practicing for the interrogation before we left. We studied for hours each day on the ship and at Angel Island. My father had written a book of questions. There were diagrams of our village. It even had a drawing of my uncle's hand and descriptions of his moles and marks.
The questions were tough. Not just how many people were in my family, but where do they sleep? What picture is hanging on which room of the house? All we wanted was to stay in this country." -Henry S. H. Gee, 1902 ("Across Generations: Immigrant Voices") |
"We could eat some rough rice, hard to swallow. I was a growing boy and hungry. The main reason I was detained so long was that my father and I gave the inspectors different dates about when I departed China. Two men killed themselves. They were probably about to be deported. Sometimes I wanted to go home because they treated us like criminals. We were only immigrants."
-Lester Tom Lee, 1904 ("Across Generations: Immigrant Voices") |
"Immigrants found it increasingly difficult to prove that they were not laborers. Roughly 30% were sent back to China. Thus very few Chinese could enter the country under the 1882 law."
-Andrew Gyory (Closing the Gate)
-Andrew Gyory (Closing the Gate)
Immigrants had to find ways around these restrictions. Some used fraudulent documents with false names to pose as the "children" of American-born Chinese. These "Paper Sons" lied their way into entry.
Several revisions were made to the Chinese Exclusion Act to prolong its influence, causing the Chinese to make more sacrifices.
The Scott Act of 1888 was added to prevent Chinese from returning to the U.S. after leaving the country to visit family in China. Since Exclusion laws only permitted the wives and children of native-born citizens to join their husbands in America, many families were permanently split.
"Under the Scott Act, Chinese men in the U.S. had little chance of ever reuniting with their wives. They also could not start families in their new homes. Because of the severe restrictions on female immigrants and the pattern of young men migrating alone, the ratio of Chinese-American males to females was 15:1 and a bachelor society emerged. They were forced to die completely alone in the foreign country."
-Iris Chang (The Chinese in America) Julia Ma on the Scott Act (AIISF)
|
"The sight of a child in Chinatown was remarkable at that time."
-Charlie Chin (PBS) |
When the Exclusion Act expired in 1892, Congress extended it for 10 years in the Geary Act. This required each Chinese resident to carry a certificate of residence and was made permanent in 1902.
"I had been here legally since 1904, but had to keep a certificate of residence with me at all times for over forty years or face deportation."
-Don Lee, 1988 ("Across Generations: Immigrant Voices") |
In response to persecution, the Chinese congregated together in Chinatowns and often could not live or work outside of them. These "safe havens" never disappeared.
|