In San Francisco, and it is an important site not only for what happened back then in the early 20th century but also because it is so timely today. It is timely because, when we pick up any newspaper, we see headlines like this. This is just from last week. Republicans slam obamas immigration at townhall. Attempt will fight any to reverse immigration action. Moving forward to fix our broken immigration system. House conservatives warn boehner dont cave on immigration. Does anyone know what some of these headlines are referring to last week . What was the big debate in congress . What was the proposed shutdown . Diego. They were threatening to shut down dhs funding because of obamas executive action referring to families. Erika right. So obamas executive action that would protect millions of undocumented immigrants, the undocumented immigrants, parents of undocumented immigrants, parents of u. S. Citizens or illegal immigrants. This would halt of their deportation. But we know that this is quite a controversial action right now. Governors of 26 states have sued the white house because they believe this executive action exceeds the president s authority. At the same time, there is a judge in texas who halted the immigration order, and this has created gridlock in congress. Obama says he is going to continue to fight. He had a town hall in miami that was sponsored by someone where he was talking about his commitment to reforming immigration laws. We know because we have been studying immigration history for the past several weeks that this is just the latest in our nations immigration debate, but it does seem like it is a contracted one. And there doesnt seem to be an end in sight. So how do we consider this immigration debate with what we have been talking about most recently . Immigration through ellis island . That story of european immigrants coming to new york, passing through ellis island certainly there were examinations, there were physicals, there was some detention, but it was primarily pretty shortlived, and most immigrants were admitted pretty easily into the country. And not only that, but this story has taken on a myth of its own. It really is the bedrock of this idea that the United States is a nation of immigrants. How do we reconcile this great immigration debate that is going on today and then this idea that we are a nation of immigrants . I think one of the ways that we can think about this complicated history of immigration is through looking at immigration through angel island. Because we know that not all immigrants were welcomed into the country. Not all immigrants were able to achieve their american dreams. But rather, we picked and sifted and chose which immigrants to let in and which immigrants to let out. Or keep out. And many times, this really was dependent upon an immigrants race, ethnicity, gender, class, this idea of who is fit to become a citizen and who is not. And this is the history that is best exemplified through immigration through angel island. This is in the San Francisco bay. It is that other island, not alcatraz, but that other island in the San Francisco bay that is now a california state park. So, the immigration station on angel island was open from 1910 to 1940. We primarily think about it as an entry point for immigrants from china and japan. And two thirds of the immigrants who did come through angel island were from those two countries. But as you can see, there are over 80 countries represented for the immigration stream that came through angel island according to our research. It ranged from places like denmark and luxembourg, french indochina, the name for cambodia, vietnam and laos, south africa, spain, switzerland. There were people who came south from canada and north from south america. This is a photograph of the immigration building on a july on angel island. When immigrants would dock, they would land on a pier and go up this pier, and this is the first site they would see. There are three entrances here. Racial segregation was the order of the day. There was an entrance for employees, there was an entrance for whites, and for asians. Within that administration building, there were separate waiting areas as well. So at all times, the different groups were segregated from each other through this administration building. So, when we compare to ellis island, ellis island is primarily enforcing laws that relate to immigrants from europe. Right . It is in new york, and most of the immigrants coming over are coming from across the atlantic. Angel island is situated in San Francisco. It is primarily enforcing laws that are targeting asian immigrants, and the laws are very, very different. While ellis island is a, mostly a processing center, angel island is a place of interrogation, health examinations, and detention. And this history is not as wellknown, but it is important because it helped shape our modern immigration system. So lets take a look at who these asian immigrants were. When we think about this great era of immigration, there are two great eras of immigration. One is the one that we are living in today, and the other is around the turn of the century from 1830 to 1930. There are 35 Million Immigrants who come during this century of migration. The vast majority, 32 million, are from europe. This is about one Million Immigrants from asia and another Million Immigrants come from latin america. So in the big picture, this is just a drop in the bucket, right . One million out of 35 million who are coming. And it is pretty diverse. There is about 450,000 chinese, they are the largest group. There is also 380,000 japanese. 150,000 filipinos. H koreans000 to 9000 and south asians. South asia is the term that was used to describe immigrants from india, pakistan, and bangladesh. There is a great diversity, not only ethnicity but also in terms of numbers. And remember, theres only one million of them, but asia and asian immigration helps to ignite some of our most divisive immigration debates. So who were these immigrants . The chinese they are like the european immigrants that we studied. They are mostly young male laborers. They want to come to the United States. They are thinking about their stay is temporary, they will make money, return home. That is why they come alone, even if they are married. They tend to leave their wives and children behind. But over the years, they decide eventually that they would like to stay in the United States. So they start calling for their family members. Similarly, the japanese are also male laborers. So remember, this is a time when immigrants are needed for their labor. Right . And it is for railroad building, for agricultural work, it is for light in the streets. They want unskilled laborers to do that work. Japanese are also male laborers. They are more educated than some immigrantsr asian because of compulsory education in japan. They also come thinking they will stay only temporarily, but over time, again, like the chinese, they decide that the u. S. Is worth settling down in , and they start calling for their wives and fiancees to come as well. By world war ii, the japaneseamerican population is such that there is really a great proportion of u. S. Born children. This is very different than the other groups. The immigrants who are coming from south asia are really extremely diverse. There is a mixture of hindus, muslims, but primarily they are sikh. They are of the sikh religion, and they are from one area which is the food job region the punjab region in presentday india and pakistan. There are both male laborers, but increasingly, there are a lot of students coming over. One of the things that makes this group pretty unique is that this is a time of intense indian nationalism, and the immigrants coming over at this time are very much a part of the nationalist movement. Koreans are a small group. They are small because japan has colonized korea by this time. And japan is very much controlling who goes in and who leaves the country. And so only a small number of koreans are coming over to the United States, primarily to the west coast and to hawaii. They also are coming for work but more so than other groups. They really see themselves as refugees. Similarly to the russian jews that we were studying last week, they are fleeing japanese colonialism, which was harsh and restrictive. Korean language was banned, korean newspapers were banned. There was a lot of surveillance. They see themselves as refugees fleeing their homeland. And potentially staying away for a long time. So they come, a higher proportion come as a families. Come as families. One of the other things that makes them unique or different from other asian immigrant groups is that they are often christian because of the role of american and u. S. Missionaries in korea at this time. It is a broad Diverse Group of , people who are coming. The last group are filipinos. They also are coming as male laborers, but again, what makes them unique is that they are coming as a totally different immigrant status, and not even an immigrant status. The philippines has been colonized by the u. S. So filipinos when they migrate, they migrate as u. S. Nationals. This is a different legal category. They are not subjected to immigration laws, which is really important. So as every other immigrant group is restricted, filipinos can still come without restricted and without interrogations and inspections. They also see themselves as americans. They have grown up with american teachers area they have grown up with american culture. They have grown up believing about the glory and riches of america. And so they believe they are coming to just another part of the country, that they are already americans. But they are unequal in status. U. S. Nationals allows them to migrate, but they are not citizens. They cannot vote. So when they come, they often face a lot of surprising to them antiasian sentiments. Diversity the broad of asian immigrants who are coming to this country early 20th century. When they come, they set in motion the reaction that americans have to them sets in motion some of the most divisive immigration debates that we have ever had in this country. This may be surprising to many people, because today, when we talk about asianamericans, we talk about the popular understandings that they are on the rise. That they are what is the stereotypes of asianamericans . [indiscernible] erika they are smart. What else . They are a particular type of minority. Do you guys remember the term . Taylor. They are the model minority. Erika they are the model minority. What does that mean . It means out of all marginalized groups, they are somehow exemplary and constitute a narrative that the rest of marginalized people should ascribe to. Erika right so they can , succeed, they can achieve economic success, academic success, and they do sell on their on without government programs. Asianamericans are the model minority. That is the stereotype about asianamericans today. It may be surprising in the early 20th century, they were considered not only undesirable immigrants, but also in a symbol foreigners to such a degree that the u. S. Wanted to not only reduce their numbers but exclude them altogether. Historians describe this power of antiasian sentiment with this quote. He says the presence of asians on american soil highlighted fundamental cleavages in american society, meeting they were the first noneuropean immigrant group to come in such great numbers. That they came at a time that there was class tensions, changing race relations. This is postcivil war, post reconstruction. These ideas about what does it an american, what does it mean to be free, what does it mean to be a worker, what rights do we have . And what is the role of the u. S. In the world . All of these things late 19th century, early 20th century are just rife with all of these massive changes in american society. So some of the ways that antiasian sentiment plays out is through prejudice, bias, prejudgments, economic discrimination dashboard barred from certain jobs political disenfranchisement. Remember the nationalization act that said only free white persons can become citizens . And can vote. Already asian immigrants are barred from becoming natural citizens. Physical violence. Immigration exclusion, which is what we are going to be talking about mostly today. Social segregation. You cannot join certain clubs, live in certain areas. And that during world war ii, incarceration. The Mass Relocation and incarceration of japanese americans. So how did, what did this look like in person . What did this look like in reality and on the ground . This is a cartoon from 1881 in San Francisco. It is from a magazine called the wasp. And i am going to ask you to tell me what you see. What is this cartoon telling us about what americans think about chinese immigration at this time . Yes. Well, it appears to be a sort of a reaction to what is perceived as sort of this overwhelming numbers of chinese immigrants. And this is a mockery of the statue of liberty but also this image of conquest because it is standing on a skull. It is clearly a chinese man due to the long braid, which marks chinese and this caricature. It is definitely this sort of mirror image of new york. Erika good. What is the title of the cartoon . A statue for our harbor. Erika right. A statue for our harbor. So in San Francisco as opposed to new york. So in new york, they have a statue of liberty. It welcomes european immigrants. In San Francisco, this is what our statue would be if we allow chinese immigration to come without restrictions. So a couple things that jeremy just mentioned. We can recognize this as a chinese male. He has got this long queue. This was a hairstyle that was qing empire the but in the United States, it a sign ofn as femininity, exoticness, subhumanness. He is wearing robes. They are very tattered. This is not the classical greek figure. It has no dignity. He is standing on a skull, meaning that he is bringing ruin. Does anyone see what he is holding in his left hand . Joy . It is an opium pipe. Erika yes. It is an opium pipe. Another symbol of the vice of chinese immigration is bringing vice and bringing drugs and immorality. There is writing emanating from the ring around his head. Can anyone see what that writing is . It is hard to see from the middle. Cartoon. Says filth. M right erika the bottom right is filth. Then what else . Immorality. Erika immorality. Good. Up on top . Is it disease . Erika disease. We are reading right to left as the chinese would. To. And canruin anyone point out those last two . Ruin to white labor. Erika right. Chinese immigration is bringing filth, immorality, disease, to ruin to white labor. Catastrophic. Chinese immigration is catastrophic to San Francisco, to california. The foundation of the statue is crumbling. The ships that are coming are capsizing. The moon in the background has slanted eyes. This is the future of california. This is the future of the United States through chinese immigration without restrictions. This is not an outlier. This is not a far right or far left or extreme example about this, of this antiimmigrant sentiment. This is one of the most well respected, well read, illustrated magazines in the late 19th century. So what is the effect of some of this popular sentiment . One is through violence. There are countless episodes of the chinese being driven out, literally being with mobs driving them out of small towns like eureka, california as well as big cities like tacoma and seattle. This is an illustration of one of the wellknown incidents, the massacre of chinese at rock springs, wyoming in september of 1885. Around aed about mining incident. Some of the white workers and Chinese Workers were debating whether they wanted to go on strike. The white workers went on strike. The chinese decided not to, and the white workers drove them out after inflicting massive violence on this group. So there is about 28 who are killed, 15 wounded, and hundreds are driven out into the outlying areas. So this is some of the sentiment that is shaping chinese immigration, but one of the really fascinating aspects of this history is, remember how diverse all those asian immigrants groups were . Nevertheless, when this idea of chinese immigrants as being a threat to the United States a class threat, a racial threat, an economic threat it became attached to other asian immigrant groups as well. So that the newspapers would say chinese excluded, but now we have a japanese problem. Or japanese excluded, now the hindus are coming, or the filipinos. They kept on calling them another invasion. It kind of got a little ridiculous because there was the second asiatic invasion, then the third asiatic invasion, and it came this typology that was framing the threat of asian immigration. And again it had very real consequences. On the left is a newspaper clipping from the New York Times in 1907 talking about again the driving out or the expulsion of Southeast Asian immigrants in a little town of marysville. This is more troubling, i think. This is a private letter that was sent to a townsman in california. The town sheriff or the town mayor. It was collected and archived at the uc berkeley archives. This is from the 1930s. So a threat to expel the filipinos, or they would inflict violence on the town. Japanese immigration perhaps invoked a more broadscale and Even International concern. This was called the yellow peril. It had to elements. One element was the familiar refrain that japanese immigrants assimilible, were racially inferior, they were taking away jobs, they were mixing with whites. The second aspect more unique to japan and japans rising power in the world. They are an empire. They defeated russia in 1904. They defeated china in 1894. They have colonized korea. So there is this idea of an asian empire, japans asian empire that is infusing that antijapanese sentiment with even greater force. That they are even more of a knows, thosee who japanese immigrant farmers picking your strawberries may be the first advance guard from a colonizing japan. This was the rhetoric by the 1920s and 1930s, that japanese immigrants in california, hawaii, oregon, and washington were soldiers in disguise and would be ready to do this. Anyone recognize the artist . Dr. Seuss. Ok. What does this say . What does this mean to you . 1942. So that day is significant. Taylor. There is an element of malfeasance and premeditation with the coming of the japanese. The cartoon implies they have some sort of connection with the government of their country of origin, and that they are willing to act on the desires of that government should they be called to do so. Erika and how so . What are they going to do . Blow up something. The little boxes that they are carrying say tnt, so it is assumed they are going to do some sort of damage. Erika and what about the ways in which they are drawn, the number of them . There are a number of them in a variety of different clo different types of clothing but all of the faces are the same and that perpetuates the stereotype that all asians look the same. It also speaks to the stereotype that the japanese act as a unit. Erika yeah. They are uniform and that only contributes to this militarizing portrayal of the japanese. Erika good. One thing here remember the statue for our harbor . What was the chinese guy wearing . Was he wearing like typical western dress . Yeah . He was wearing really tattered robes. Erika yeah, he was wearing robes. Either they could be seen you could read it as he is wearing classical greek robes like the statue of liberty, but they got tattered, or chinese robes. But here these japanese immigrants are wearing western suits. They are assimilated to a degree. They are westernized to a degree, which makes them even more of a threat, because you cannot tell that they are really the enemy within. You cannot tell they are not loyal, but in fact, deep down inside, they are just waiting for the signal from home. They are all up and down the Pacific Coast, the idea of the yellow peril. It is almost like a homing beacon. The signal from home is coming. This guy is looking across the one pacific waiting for it. Harbor has, pearl come, and now it is time to cause even more reckoning and damage from within. There are various different types of antiasian sentiments. But all of them at its root describe asian immigrants as not american, always asian, immigrants that are dangerous cannot be assimilated. ,dangerous for several Different Reasons that by the 1930s, for japanese, it is about national security. And then we know that by 1942, of 1942, japaneseamericans all up and down the west coast are forcibly removed. There are Exclusion Orders that are posted at every Street Corner in the cities, ordering anyone with japanese ancestry to remove themselves. So they are barred from living in those areas. And to assemble at various Different Assembly centers where then they will be incarcerated for the duration of the war at several camps throughout the United States. So this is one of the ways in which this asian immigration story ends. But before we get to that, we want to consider the other aspects, the other path. And that path was barring new immigrants from coming over. So you have been reading a lot about chinese exclusion. The first act being passed in 1882. What are some of the things that this act does . The name kind of says it all, right . [laughter] but not everything. Not every, not every chinese is excluded. So who is excluded . All chinese immigrants aside from anyone who is a merchant or the children of a nativeborn citizen. Erika ok, good. So some are excluded, but there are certain class provisions. The main group excluded are chinese laborers. Chinese laborers are excluded. At the very beginning, the exclusion act just says for 10 years. So it is sort of like an incremental step. So chinese laborers are excluded , but like you are saying there , are exempt classes. Teachers, students, travelers, merchants, and diplomats. So it is not only racially based, it is classbased. It is those who want to learn about the United States. It is those who want to visit the United States and spend money here. It is those who are engaged in international trade. Again, u. S. China relationships and economic trade, and of course, diplomats. But those who are the bulk, the majority of chinese at this time, laborers, are barred. It is important because this is the very first time in u. S. History that we bar a Group Wholesale based on race. Remember when we were talking about the irish immigration, the anticatholic movement, and how even the know Nothing Party that had a national platform, they never went so far as to advocate for restriction. Right . They wanted longer times for nationalization. But they never said we are going to close the gates. But this time the United States does do that. And it doesnt just last for 10 years. It gets renewed in 1892, it gets getsed in 1902, and it made permanent in 1904. It isnt until 50 years ago that we banned discrimination in immigration law. So it lasted a long time and has lots of repercussions. So the chinese exclusion act is just that First Step Towards closing the gates to asian immigration, but it would not be the last. Irony of this is the chinese exclusion. Chinese laborers are barred, but this is a time period when 32 million europeans are still coming over, and labor is still needed. As soon as chinese exclusion has passed, japanese immigration increases because they are still needed in the vines and the farms and especially the plantations of hawaii. Again, that familiar pattern of antiasian sentiment kicks into gear, and by 1908, we also prohibit japanese laborers. We do not dare call this a japanese exclusion act because we dont want to bother japan. We dont want to insult japan. Japan we think of as an equal nation, and so we pressure through our diplomatic channels to have a diplomatic agreement be reached. And we call it a gentlemans agreement, as if it was mutually agreed upon by two equal nations. Japanese laborers are prohibited by 1908. Again you bar japanese laborers, the immigration from south asia starts to increase. The United States feels like it has another Immigration Crisis on hand, so the 1917 act immigration act decides to take a little more of a drastic approach and basically draws an entire red line throughout all of asia and calls it the asiatic barred zone. Its aim is that prohibiting south asians. There were only 8000 coming, but still, this law institutes these new restrictions. The 1924 immigration act also has a blanket exclusion. The one group that is not covered under this zone is on not covered under the asiatic bar zone is japan. Even though laborers were barred, others were not. Students were coming over but especially women. And forming those japaneseamerican communities. 1924 immigration act, its two primary aims is to close those loopholes on japanese asianation and southeast immigration as well. The last group left are filipinos. The only way to bar filipinos from coming to the country is ironically by granting the philippines independence because the philippines is a colony. And you cannot ban a colonial subject from going from one part of the empire to another. We have this really odd coalition of bedfellows of filipino nationalists eager for independence and antiasian exclusiveness. They come together and decide this is how we can achieve our goals. We will grant nominal independence to the philippines, and by doing that, they are no longer going to be u. S. Nationals, but instead, they will be aliens. They will be foreigners, they will be immigrants. And they will be then subjected to immigration laws. You go from really largescale immigration from the philippines of 150,000 to a quota that only gives them 50 slots per year. So these are the laws. So the United States has a problem. As soon as we pass these immigration laws, these are again, these are transformative. We have never done this before. We are not really sure how to enforce immigration laws. So for example with the 1882 chinese exclusion act, we passed may, ships of chinese immigrants are coming to San Francisco, and the immigration officials, who are really Customs Officials who have just been told, by the way, in addition to counting the barrels of cotton that are coming on that ship, youre also supposed to enforce these new laws. These Customs Officials are throwing their hands up and kind of saying what . You know, how are we what are , these laws and what do you want us to do with them . So lets just take the case of chinese merchants. Chinese merchants can still come. A ship load of immigrants comes into San Francisco bay. Customs officials goes up to the ship. Which one of you are laborers and which one of you are merchants . How do they determine . This is the beginning of immigration documents, this is the beginning of the immigration interrogation. What happens if the case is really complicated . That emergent for example needs two white witnesses to verify their claims. Those white witnesses are probably not waiting as the pier. You probably have to send someone to get them and this takes time. Very soon after these laws are passed, the u. S. Government realizes we dont really know what we are doing just yet. We have these immigrants. These examinations are taking longer than we thought. We have nowhere to put them. So at the very beginning, they kept them on the ships. The ship captain would say its all well and good that you are using my ship as a detention center, but i have to go back. I am on schedule to go back across the pacific to pick up some more passengers. So then they would move those detainees to another ship. Observers in the 19 1890s talk about having these ships moored out in the bay. They artistically they are basically immigrant detention centers. To solve this problem, there was a small detention should that gets built in the 1890s. It is crowded. It is fire hazard, it is also not escape proof. And the u. S. Government allocates money in 1903 to build the angel island immigration system on island, hard to get to, hard to leave, and they call it the ellis island of the west. And some of the newspapers from that time are talking about how it is this beautiful resort, and immigrants will be so lucky to underbali balmy days the palm trees that these stations have. That did not turn out to be the case. Here is another irony of this time period. We have passed immigration laws , but immigrants still keep coming. This is not unlike what our what explains our contemporary immigration patterns. This is why we have an undocumented immigration system. Even though the laws and the fences and the gates have been built, immigrants still want to come to the United States. So, there are several Different Reasons. We have to understand that during this time period, there is a lot of stuff going on in china. There is push factors that we often talk about with immigration. There is civil unrest, there is famine. There is growing numbers of people, a population explosion like we were talking about with southern and eastern europe, and especially european and american powers are in china at this time. They are instituting unequal economic treaties, they are trying to gain more power, especially in this region that is just north of hong kong. By this time by the time angel island opens up, it is 1910. Chinese have been coming since the gold rush in 1860. That is 60 years, and families have become dependent on immigration as a form of economic survival. Even though the laws are passed, they are still dependent on migration to the u. S. How do they get around the law is the question for them. And there is this revolution in transportation. So the steamships are getting faster. They are bigger, and fares are cheaper. So at the same time that the laws are being passed you have , steamship agents going into countrysides saying i can get you there for this much, and the business is still being drummed up. The irony again is that you have laws that are restricting one group, but the United States still needs immigrant labor, and we know this because the millions of the europeans are still coming in unrestricted. There are some chinese immigrant groups that we know can still come merchants, u. S. Citizens. The gate is not totally closed. But all of this leads up to the fact that chinese either try to come in through those restricted openings, or they try to find other ways of coming in, and this is why we call chinese immigrants the first undocumented immigrants. And about 100,000 then still come during the exclusion era during the time angel island is , open. 100,000 come through angel island during the 30 years it is open. This is an interview, an excerpt from one of the interviews you have in your book. And he says that the chinese did not want to come in illegally, but they were kind of forced. Would you mind reading this aloud for us . Sure. We didnt want to come in illegally, but we were forced to because of the immigration laws. They particularly picked on the chinese. If we told the truth, it didnt work. So we had to take a crooked path. Erika thanks. So what is the crooked path . What is the crooked path that he is talking about . Was it pay for sons and daughters . Erika explain that a little bit for us. They would have a family friend or somebody that they knew that would tell immigration that they were family members, and they had to provide a piece of paper. Erika so they were sons or daughters only by paper, and they were getting in under those exempt classes that still allowed the sons or children of say a merchant or u. S. Citizen to come. Yeah. Ok. Does anyone recognize this photo or can imagine . Yes what is it . , i really like this photo. This was the coaching notes. Because in order to pass interrogation of immigrants, immigrants would have to study their notes because they would go through extensive questioning with really really difficult , questions. In order to get notes to the immigrants, it would be smuggled like in food like bananas. One of the stories also spoke about how the kitchen staff would help to pass notes because they would go into the city to to get food. And then when they would come back, they would hand notes to whoever it belonged to. Erika and they would provide the answers to some of the interrogations. I have seen notes crumpled up into peanuts. [laughter] peanut shells and also oranges. Think about like your best efforts at passing a test and these strategies here. Let me read to you. This is a government exhibit. Immigration officials found this found these notes and took a picture of it. You can see it all laid out on kind of a scrapbook and sent it back to dc as proof of the conditions of chinese immigration at this time, and the text, the type written text below says the admissibility of some chinese persons to the u. S. Is dependent upon the relationship to other chinese already resident in the country. One of the tests of the relationship claims is a comparison of the statements of the applicant and the allowed relative separately on matters which would be Common Knowledge as the relationship between them existed. They compared the questions and answers. The exhibits here illustrate one of the methods adopted by alleged relatives to send applicants held on angel island coaching information applicants. Contemplated to make their testimony agree with that given by the alleged relatives. The chinese letter and the village diagram were transmitted in a banana. Here is the letter on the left, and then on the right is literally a map of the village with every resident and detail of their allegedly shared village so they could answer the questions. These were transmitted in the banana as shown, but the trick was discovered before the fruit was given to the applicant. So, this is some of the consequences of chinese immigration during the exclusion era. These interrogations, the coaching notes, and also things like this. This is a page taken out of an immigration officers log in downey ville, california. Pages and pages of photographs and details of every immigrant in the city. Long bing, he is a cook. Changed to hong bing by interpreter. The interpreter changed his name. He is 50 years, five feet. No marks. No facial marks. You can imagine this immigration officer going up and down the street with his little log and keeping track of all the chinese immigrants in his town. And they would mark left for china or returned, and so forth. We have got the beginning of surveillance on immigrant groups. New government crackdowns on undocumented immigration, new investigations of fraudulent immigration documents. We have stricter and lengthier interrogations and examinations. We have for the very time, we first are requiring immigrants to have on their persons at all times what we know today as green cards. Certificates of identity. For the very first time, we institute these for chinese immigrants. And if you were found without these, you could be arrested and deported for not being in the country legally. Longer detentions, immigration raids, arrests, and deportations. There are numerous raids in San Francisco, in boston, around the country of people, immigration officers and local Police Looking for undocumented immigrants. I remember specifically looking through immigration files in the national archives, and coming across this poor guys record. He may or may not have come in with fraudulent papers, but the immigration officials were convinced that he was hiding something, so they had an immigration raid. He descended upon this Chinese Restaurant where he was working , and the text of the report describes the immigration officers coming in through one door and watching him run out the back. He left behind his wallet, which the immigration officers confiscated and put in his file. And you can open it up. There is no money in there anymore, but you can open it up, and it had his business cards, it had, you know, notes, and photographs. You can imagine that he left in a hurry and the fear he had at that time. So immigration raids, arrests, deportations. What chinese called living under the shadow of exclusion. Always fearing deportation, always fearing that they would be found out, even if or being tainted with illegality even if they were not. Consequences of the paper son system. It might have allowed them to enter the country, but they had a lot of different consequences. Their fates were held in the hands of immigration officials at angel island. This is a photograph of them in the 1930s. You can pick out that there is one asian female employee. She was probably a matron in the womens barracks. And then three asian interpreters. By the 1930s, interpreters could be asian. When the Immigration Bureau first began it was against the , law to hire anyone who was nonwhite, even if the job was as interpreter, because it was believed that the asians would naturally collude with each other or be easily bribed. You had a situation in the 1890s with the interpreters, who were not asian, who were white, trying to interpret very difficult languages and dialects. Some of them didnt know all of them very well. So we have immigration officials havegel island, and we interviews in the book that you have been reading that detail that some were very fairminded. They felt it was a difficult situation. They tried to give the benefit of the doubt. We also know that many officials also were hardened. Some were veterans of the antichinese movement. Had helped to pass some of these laws, and felt it was their duty to keep the gates closed as tightly as possible. One of the first things that chinese immigrants had to face was the medical exam. What do you remember from the family history, the interviews, the poems . What are some of the things that former detainees talk about in terms of the medical exam . Yes . They said that it was very humiliating that they had to undress in front of everybody, and they felt they were being pointed out, especially with the hookworms. They thought that it was like a specifically made disease for only chinese immigrants. Erika yeah, ok. So humiliation, that this was not something that was usual in china, to strip down not only naked in front of the doctor but in various forms of undress in a group. There were certain diseases that were deemed excludable. These are parasitic diseases. Remember when we were watching the film about ellis island, the diseases that all immigration officials were looking for were contagious diseases. Diseases, contagious one could pass to another. These diseases being tested for here on angel island were not only the contagious diseases but parasitic diseases. Like when you travel somewhere or drink water or Food Poisoning or other things. These parasitic diseases that could be easily cured, that were not contagious, but were used specifically to exclude immigrants, particularly from asia because these certain parasitic diseases were known to be especially prevalent in asia. So you have got the medical exams, and then you have these interrogations. These interrogations that could last a couple hours. They could last two to three days. They could last even longer. The typical length was a few days. There are some immigration files where if you count the number of questions, it numbers up to 1000 questions. So this is a scan of one page of one interrogation, and you can just see that it goes boom, boom, boom. What is your name, have you ever been married where were you , born, how old are you . In this file, the singlespaced aboutons and answers are six pages, total about six pages long. I want to do a little exercise with you. I am going to put these questions up, and i want you to raise your hands if you think you can answer these questions. And i want you to keep your hands up if you can keep on answering this questions, but put them down as soon as you think you have reached a question that you probably cannot answer, that you dont have the true and detailed answer. Ok, you guys ready . All right. What is your name . Good. How old are you . What are your parents names and what are their ages . Ok easy so far. ,right . When where they married . Oh. [laughter] ok. Do you have any brothers or sisters . You can raise it up again if you think you can answer it. What are their names and ages . Ok. Good. Ok. What is the name of your village . So in this case, how about the name of your hometown . How many houses are on your street . Ok. Who lives just pretend in the third house on the left of your street and list all names and ages. Ok. [laughter] jeremy is getting into the country. [laughter] who is the oldest man in your village . [laughter] or home city . And how many steps are there in your house . Or how many steps lead up to your house . You are all out. No one is coming into the country. How many windows does your house have . You would have to know the answer, but then like your sister or father would also have to say the exact same thing. Right . How many windows does your house have . How many clocks are in your house . How many chickens does your neighbor own . [laughter] what happens if one of them dies in between when you got on the boat and arrived in the u. S. . How far is it from your village to the nearest hill . When were the windows put into your house . Ok. So i need two volunteers. I want someone to be the harsh immigration official and someone to be this person, applying for admission as the son of a u. S. Citizen in 1918. Who wants to be my harsh immigration official . Ok, tyler will be the immigration official. Who will be phong . Someone sitting close to tyler. Great. You go first. You are the immigration official. Which direction does the front of your house face . West. Your alleged father has indicated that his house is in ho chung village and facing east. How do you explain that . The village faces west. Cant you figure this matter out for yourself . I dont know directions. All ourany rooms in there on the ground floor of your house . Three. Theres a parlor and two bedrooms and a kitchen. Five rooms in all downstairs. The two bedrooms are together sidebyside. Understandish us to you would forget how many bedrooms are in a house where you claim to have lived 17 years . Yes, i forgot about it. Did you visit the sar kai market with your father . No. Why not . If you really are his son [laughter] maybe he missed remembers. Maybe he trips up. He changes. This is the exact record, the stenographers notes. Coughs org changes or Something Like that. This is a typical backandforth. If i were him, i would be nervous. I would be scared and perhaps by the end of this, a little angry. We know from oral histories and others that these interrogations were terrifying. This is a quote some of you have read. He was detained on angel island in 1922. She told interviewers that one woman was questioned all day and deported. She told me they asked her about life in china, the direction the house faced. How would i know all that . I was scared. What this translated to, this long interrogation, the calling backandforth of witnesses and waiting for people to come from San Francisco or oakland or sometimes from the interior of idaho coming to San Francisco to give testimony. The detentions were quite long. This is the only photograph of what we have of the barracks, how they looked inside. Extremely crowded conditions, 200300 men were housed at any time in the barracks. Women were detained elsewhere, the second floor of the administration building. An average stay was 23 weeks. They are let out for one hour a day, this is what they have. Thats why there is your caught, your living space. This is a quote from lee who was detained for three months. 20 months. Chinese immigration during this ine, they were very active challenging their denials. They hired lawyers and they would take their cases up to court and play them all the way up to the supreme court. She talks about how she must have cried a bowl full of tears on angel island. How does this compare . Ellis island to angel island we know there are 12 million who come through ellis island during its period of operation. 20 of all immigrant arrivals are detained. Those are the women and children who are arriving to join their husbands. They need to wait until their husbands and fathers come and retrieve them. Or those who are being kept for contagious diseases, 20 are detained. But it is not too long. Detention time is 12 days on average. In the end, 90 are admitted. This is why we think of ellis island as more of a process center, going through. The numbers are much different, half a million come through angel island. The scale is quite different. But you see the differences right away with attention. 20 on ellis island, 60 of all immigrant arrivals are detained on angel island. They count Detention Times in weeks, months, years. The longest Detention Time is 756 days. 93 of chinese are admitted. That is much higher than one would expect. But, it is only after these long andbut, it is only after these long long detentions, after really lengthy legal battles that are of course expensive, as well. We know so much about angel island because of these poems that have been preserved. This is the best preserved poem. The author must have carved it over and over again. And this one fits with many of the themes you have written about already. From now on, im departing far from this building. All of my fellow villagers are rejoicing with me. Dont say that everything within is westernstyle. If it is built of jade, it is a cage. Immigration officials thought that the detainees were just writing graffiti on the walls. They would paint over and over and over. These two guys copied more than 100 poems into their notebooks in the 1930s when they were detained. It is because of those poems that we have been able to preserve so many. I need three volunteers. Help us read these and think about what they mean. Who would like to be the first one to read . Yes, thank you. There are tens of thousands of poems composed on these walls. They are all cries of complaint and sadness. The day i am rid of this prison, i must remember that this chapter once existed. In my daily needs, i must be frugal. Needless extravagance leads youth to ruin. All my compatriots should please be mindful. Once you have some small gain, return home early. Thank you. What are the messages here . There are a couple, at least. I concentrated on this poem within my response and compared an experience that i thought was interesting. I must remember that this chapter once existed. Contradicting to most of the immigrant experiences at angel island. It was so detrimental, i am sure it is something you would want to forget. Whereas lo had this humility, she came out of it very strong and was like this is a chapter i need to remember because it will help me be a strong woman to provide for myself and family in such a difficult era in the United States. I thought that was interesting. Good. Very good. Even though it might be an experience they would like to forget, that the multitude of these expressions, the tens of thousands of poems of complaints and sadness, that we must remember this chapter once existed. What about the second half . In my daily needs i must be frugal, once you have some small gains return home early. What is this immigrants plan . Yes, tyler. They may be referencing the extravagance of the american lifestyle, in contrast to this persons homeland back in asia. His plan may be to return once they can establish themselves and make some money. Yeah. Not to stay. To return. This experience on angel island helps them convince themselves that the United States is on a bash not a welcoming place. Is not a welcoming place. Once you earn enough, you can return home. Who would like to read this one . Thank you. Imprisoned in the wooden building day after day, my freedom withheld, how can i bear to talk about it . I look to see who is happy, but they only sit quietly. Im anxious and depressed. I cannot fall asleep. The days are long. My sad mood is not dispelled. The nights are long and the pillow is cold. Who can pity my loneliness . After experiencing such sorrow, why not return home and learn to plow the fields . Erika what are the messages here, in the first stanza . Angel island was very bleak, just the environment. The long detentions and this environment caused a lot of the tonted the detainees become emotionally depressed, probably chemically depressed, judging by the count of suicides. Many questioned why they came in the first place. That goes right into the second stanza, too. After experiencing such loneliness and sorrow, why not just give up and learn to plow the fields . Coming with lots of hope to the United States. This experience changing them and causing loneliness and despair, so much so that he cannot bear to talk about it, and really questioning why they came to the United States in the first place. Ok, last poem. Last volunteer. [inaudible] barbarians and lost their hearts and reason . They mistreat us chinese. It is not enough after being interrogated several times, we have to have our chest examined while naked. Our countrymen suffer this treatment because our countries power can not expand. If there comes a day when china will be united, i will cut out the bowels of the western barbarian. Erika a little bit more complicated. A little bit more passionate. What are the messages here . Yes. It illustrates immigration as a necessary process. It definitely gives us this batch gives testament gives us this testament that immigrants come out of necessity, they dont choose to come for fun. He references political instability as to why he is here. Erika political instability and global inequality. Our countrymen suffer this mistreatment because our countrys power cannot expand. One of the things i think is interesting about this one, first of all, it is more pointedly angry, resentful, and threatening of violence than any of the others. It explicitly hits, at least in this case, the chinese versus the western barbarians. It is very important that we know these poems have been recovered from the mans barrick. We know he uses the term barbarian. That is what the americans were calling chinese, barbarians. Uncivilized. By putting his back on the americans, it is even more pointed. And this last line, if there comes a day when china will be united, i will surely cut out the heart and bowels of the western barbarian. Quite a strong statement there. The history of immigration on angel island, one chapter ends in 1940. This is where all the interrogations happen, the interrogation of the women detainees would be. And for the next 30 years, the place is abandoned. It is scheduled to be demolished. And this is what the mans barracks looks like in the 1970s. So in many ways, it was a history that was lost. It was lost because detainees themselves did not want to remember it. They identified this era, this period of immigration in their lives as being in the shadow of exclusion. They do not talk about their experiences with their own family. There are many histories that you have read where the children are saying we were told never to use our real name. I did not even know that my real name was until x, y, and z. One of the attorneys talked about whenever he brought up the word angel island to his family, he would hear, dont talk about it. Also, in the 1960s, immigration history was not yet a recognizable field. The immigrant was not yet studied. And this history was not wellpreserved. But, through the efforts of Many Community activists and discoveries, we first were able to discover the poems. A california state park ranger found these poems when he was going through the barracks. He told his professor about it, a biology professor whose mother just happened to be a detainee on angel island. That professor told other faculty and students, at the newly created asianamerican studies department, they tried to study the poems and preserve them. The authors of the book you are reading, they are not professional historians. An engineer, a librarian, a poet they took it upon themselves to go into the community and conduct oral histories to translate the poems. This is what the book look like when it was First Published in 1980. Publishing houses did not want to publish it. They selfpublished it 35 years ago. And what they found was that this history, preserving and recovering this history, served as a type of catharsis of the chineseamerican community. It openly aired these dark secrets. It allowed people to understand they did not experiences on their own, there were others that experienced this history of racial exclusion and undocumented immigration. It helped to feel like they could let go. That it was not all their fault. It was part of a larger pattern of discrimination. It helps to legitimize the angel island experience. And it allowed detainees to feel they didnt have to be ashamed anymore. They talked about how in the early 1970s, she would find people to interview and they would politely say no. I dont want to talk about it. Now, there are so many people who want to tell judy their stories, she cannot keep up with them. It has become a whole new type of experience. And it is not just for the chineseamerican community. It has been recognized as important for all americans. In 1998, the Angel Island Immigration Center became a National Historic landmark. The rationale behind that comes from the Community Organization that helped to put this movement forward. They said in their proposal, angel island immigration station presents the first, only, and the best opportunity to fully interpret the history of asian immigration to the u. S. This is our plymouth rock, valley forge, alamo, statue of liberty, lincoln memorial, all rolled into one. In the same way that ellis island has been enshrined to commemorate european immigration, angel island should be recognized and declared a National Historic landmark. This is a photograph at that ceremony in 1998. There was a massive effort since then, there is been asn effort to restore the buildings. This is the detention barracks, on the footprint of were the administration set, it is open space. But exhibits like an interrogation table were photographed. They have restored the interior of the mens barrracks, as well. This is the reopening from 2009. And there are now documentaries that help to explain the preservation of polands, the preservation process, and the new process that has been found. In the years since these efforts, there have been 200 poems that have been rediscovered. There have been hundreds of inscriptions in many different languages, punjabi, german, english, spanish, japanese, and there has also been carvings, illustrations have been restored. There have also been new research, new family histories and new poems. And another book on angel island that looks at the broad range of immigration through the immigration station, as well. All of this has led to what some could interpret as a closing of the chapter on this history of angel island immigration. In 2012, a group of Community Activists lobbied for the passage of a statement of regret. A statement of regret that congress regretted the chinese exclusion laws. Typically, this statement of regret acknowledged that it is not an apology. It acknowledges the chinese exclusion acts resulted in persecution and alienation of chinese dissent. Unfairly limited their rights, legitimize racial discrimination, and legitimize trauma. This is an important landmark event. A type of reconciliation, this public acknowledgment the chinese exclusion happened. That it was detrimental. That it did not coincide with our political beliefs. And this was an important event, an important transformation in history. But i would also want us to question whether it is really time to close the chapter. The simple statement of regret, did it help us put it into the dustbin of history . Let us forget what happened, move on, think about other immigrant histories. What are the other lessons of angel island today . There are Diverse Groups that came through, not all of them were detained. Not all of them might have had this experience of wanting to cut out the bowels of the western barbarians. But many of them did. And while we often point to ellis island and its celebratory history on immigration in the making of the nation, i would argue that this other history this darker history of immigration. Perhaps it has even more residents with our contemporary world today. The poems describe frustration, disappointment, resentment of the immigrant experience. It helps us confront americas history of discrimination and restriction in immigration laws. As we know, this is not a story that we can just safely leave to the early 20th century. These are two photos and headlines that were taken from the news just this past summer, when Central American refugees, most of them children or mothers were coming across the border to the United States for asylum. And for many weeks, we did not know what conditions these young immigrant detainees were being held in. But if you weeks into it, we were able to find and get some sneak peeks this is just one photograph of the processing facility. In texas. It can be argued that we are in a current state of immigration detention crisis. Let me just read this for you. In 2011, the department of Homeland Security held a recordbreaking 429,000 immigrants in over 250 facilities across the country. 429,000 people, were detained that translates into 33,400 a day. Advocates argue that the majority of these detentions are not necessary. Remember that detention on ellis island was about 12 days. Angel island, as hard as they were, averaged in the 23 weeks. Incarceration today range from 37 days to 10 months. We have 300,000 Immigrants Detained on angel island over the entire 30year period compared to in 2011 alone, the most recent statistic, 429,000 in one year. It has been 50 years since we passed comprehensive immigration reform. We are celebrating, recognizing, honoring the amendment, and it is clear from the headlines that i showed at the very beginning that we are in a current debate over immigration. About which there does not seem to be any easy solution. How do we connect this to angel island, then . I would argue that angel island represents the best and the worst of americas immigration history. There are many, many immigrant families who traced back to angel island and made it through the educational system and can now celebrate generations of being in the United States. But there are many others for which that detention experience best mirrors this other side of immigration that we are also experiencing today. So i want to end by reading, this is the organization that dedicates itself to the preservation and education about immigration through angel island the Pacific Coast in general. It protects stories and does outreach. In their mission statement, angel island reminds us of the complicated history of immigration in america. It serves as a symbol of our willingness to learn from our past, to ensure that our nation keeps its promise of liberty and freedom. And if you want to learn more, you can go to the angel island website. It has an amazing range of archive of immigrant voices. Many are based on the collection of family histories and poems in the books we read. But there are more coming in every day. Thank you so much. That is it for today. We will see you next time. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2020] you can watch lectures in history every weekend on American History tv. We take you inside College Classrooms to learn about topics ranging from the American Revolution to 9 11. Thats saturday at 8 00 on cspan3. Youre watching American History tv. 48 hours of programming on American History every weekend on cspan3. Follow us on twitter for information on our schedule and to keep up with the latest history news. Each week, American History tvs railamerica brings you archival feel films that provide context for todays Public Affairs issues. [inaudible] arrestsrly afternoon, totaled over 7000. The largest single day arrest total recorded in American History. Our Nations Capital does not possess facilities for detaining 7000 prisoners. No government should stand ready to arrest and detain thousands of people at one time. When the police were forced to take action, they were also forced to use facilities which provided a minimum of security, shelter, and sanitation. This was what the demonstrators wanted. Manual, itn the greatly enhances our tactical position if the jails and detention facilities are filled with demonstrators. The specter of thousands of people jailed in the governments unsuccessful attempt to control willa made a demonstrate the political isolation of the warmaking government. Tens of thousands going to jail will make the choice is painfully clear to americas rulers. End the war or face social chaos. Demonstrators filled court cellblocks, police established a temporary Holding Facility at robert f. Kennedy stadium. [inaudible] this is American History tv on cspan3. Each weekend, we feature 48 hours of programs exploring our nations past. The largest stone for in the United States its at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay near hampton, virginia. Fort monroe director gives us a tour showcasing the history from the colonial era to its completion. Welcome to fort monroe, located at the very Pleasant Place that we call point comfort