Chinese Immigration and the Chinese in the United States (original) (raw)

Please note: The following is from a 1996 Reference Information Paper (RIP 99) that has not been updated since its initial release. We recommend that you contact us prior to visiting to review original records.

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Introduction

1996 reference information paper, Chinese Immigration and the Chinese in the United States.From 1882 to 1943 the United States Government severely curtailed immigration from China to the United States. This Federal policy resulted from concern over the large numbers of Chinese who had come to the United States in response to the need for inexpensive labor, especially for construction of the transcontinental railroad. Competition with American workers and a growing nativism brought pressure for restrictive action, which began with the Act of May 6, 1882 (22 Stat. 58). Passed by the 47th Congress, this law suspended immigration of Chinese laborers for ten years; permitted those Chinese in the United States as of November 17, 1880, to stay, travel abroad, and return; prohibited the naturalization of Chinese; and created the Section 6 exempt status for teachers, students, merchants, and travelers. These exempt classes would be admitted upon presentation of a certificate from the Chinese government.

The next significant exclusionary legislation was the Act to Prohibit the Coming of Chinese Persons into the United States of May 1892 (27 Stat. 25). Referred to as the Geary Act, it allowed Chinese laborers to travel to China and reenter the United States but its provisions were otherwise more restrictive than preceding immigration laws. This Act required Chinese to register and secure a certificate as proof of their right to be in the United States. Imprisonment or deportation were the penalties for those who failed to have the required papers or witnesses. Other restrictive immigration acts affecting citizens of Chinese ancestry followed. During World War II, when China and the United States were allies, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an Act to Repeal the Chinese Exclusion Acts, to Establish Quotas, and for Other Purposes (57 Stat. 600-1). This Act of December 13, 1943, also lifted restrictions on naturalization. However until the Immigration Act of October 1965 (79 Stat. 911) numerous laws continued to have a restrictive impact on Chinese immigration.

Certain Federal agencies were particularly active in enforcing the exclusion laws. Initially the Customs Service took the lead because of the maritime nature of immigration. In 1900 the Office of the Superintendent of Immigration, which had been established in the Department of the Treasury in 1891, became the chief agency responsible for implementing Federal regulations mandated by the Chinese exclusion laws. This office evolved into the present Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Both the Chinese Bureau within the Customs Service and the Chinese Division of the INS employed "Chinese" inspectors, people designated to enforce the Chinese exclusion laws. Immigration- related decisions made by these Federal officials were sometimes appealed to Federal courts, which also heard criminal cases involving Chinese alleged to be living in the United States illegally. Many of the records created to implement the Chinese exclusion laws are now in the custody of the National Archives and Records Administration's (NARA) Regional Archives. The records are a major resource for the study of Chinese immigration and Chinese-American travel, trade, and social history from the late-19th to mid-20th century. Because many documents relate to individual immigrants, they are invaluable for the study of Chinese and Chinese-American family history. These records document the rationale and actions of Federal officials and other persons involved with Chinese exclusion policies and the strategies and activities of Chinese and Chinese Americans who struggled against the prohibitive effects of those policies. Records in NARA's Regional Archives are not arranged according to subject, but are kept in numbered record groups established for the Government agencies that created or received them. Although arrangement by record group (abbreviated RG) makes subject access more difficult at times, it preserves the organizational and contextual integrity of the records, making them more easily understood. Often records in one record group can be linked with those in another. For example, an INS case file in RG 85 may include the case file number of a related district or circuit court case in RG 21 and vice versa. INS case numbers can sometimes be retrieved from information provided on passenger arrival lists in Customs Service (RG 36) files. Records related to the Angel Island Immigration Station can be found in Public Health Service (RG 90) files.

This reference information paper is organized by Federal agency/record group as follows:

The majority of the records cited in this publication are open to the public for research. In some instances NARA is not able to provide public access due to the Freedom of Information Act, which exempts specific categories of information from public disclosure. Individual immigration case files relating to events more than 75 years old are generally open for research. Documents in case files relating to events less than 75 years old may be subject to privacy restrictions defined in the Freedom of Information Act. To gain access to files restricted because of privacy concerns, researchers, including family members, can act as authorized representatives of the subject of the file by providing NARA with evidence of the subject's consent. If the subject of a file is deceased, protection of privacy is not applicable but researchers are asked to provide documentation of the subject's death. NARA also requires that a researcher provide identification, such as a valid driver's license, before it provides access to original records.

A number of different series of microfilmed records are cited in the text, including National Archives Microfilm Publications (designated by an M or a T), microfilmed regional records available only at one Regional Archives (designated by an I), and microfilm accessioned as a record copy from a Federal agency (unnumbered).

Although only some Regional Archives have identified records from Federal district courts (RG 21), courts of appeals (RG 276), and the Customs Service (RG36), it is likely that information related to Chinese immigration, Chinese exclusion, and Chinese Americans can be located in the 12 Regional Archives holding original records.

The author wishes to thank Nancy Malan, Regional Archives System, and the following regional archives staff members for their contributions to this publication:
Kellee Blake, Eileen Bolger, Michael Brodhead, John Celardo, Suzanne Dewberry, Scott Forsythe, Bill Greene, Margaret Hacker, Don Jackanicz, Susan Karren, Laura McCarthy, Lisa Miller, Robert Morris, Dan Nealand, James Owens, Neil Thomsen, Martin Tuohy, Beverly Watkins, and Paul Wormser.

District Courts of the United States

Record Group 21

Administrative History
U.S. district and circuit courts were created by the Judiciary Act of September 24, 1789. The jurisdiction and powers of these Federal courts have varied with subsequent legislation, but district courts have been principally criminal, admiralty, and bankruptcy courts, hearing noncapital criminal proceedings, suits for penalties or seizures under Federal laws, and litigation involving an amount in excess of 100inwhichtheUnitedStatesistheplaintiff.Thecircuitcourtsheardappealsfromthedistrictcourtsandweregivenexclusiveoriginaljurisdictionoveractionsinvolvingaliens,suitsbetweencitizensofdifferentStates,andlawandequitysuitswheretheamountindisputeexceeded100 in which the United States is the plaintiff. The circuit courts heard appeals from the district courts and were given exclusive original jurisdiction over actions involving aliens, suits between citizens of different States, and law and equity suits where the amount in dispute exceeded 100inwhichtheUnitedStatesistheplaintiff.Thecircuitcourtsheardappealsfromthedistrictcourtsandweregivenexclusiveoriginaljurisdictionoveractionsinvolvingaliens,suitsbetweencitizensofdifferentStates,andlawandequitysuitswheretheamountindisputeexceeded500. In 1891 the appellate jurisdiction of the circuit courts was transferred to the newly created courts of appeals (see RG 276). The Judiciary Act of 1911 abolished the circuit courts and provided for the transfer of their records and remaining jurisdiction to the district courts.

Most States initially had one district and one circuit court with additional districts and subdivisions created as the business of the courts increased. In 1812 circuit courts were authorized to appoint U.S. commissioners to assist in taking bail and affidavits. Commissioners' functions were expanded by subsequent legislation and court rules. Their powers have included authority to issue arrest warrants, examine persons charged with offenses against Federal laws, initiate actions in admiralty matters, and institute proceedings for violation of civil rights legislation.

Territorial district courts generally were established by the organic act that created the territory. They heard Federal civil, criminal, and bankruptcy actions in addition to having civil and criminal jurisdiction similar to that of State courts. Records created by a territorial court acting in its capacity as a Federal court often became the property of the Federal district court upon statehood. Occasionally these records are held by State archives.

Most court records are case files arranged by type of action, such as civil or criminal, and then numerically by case number. They usually include original papers issued by the court or filed by attorneys, such as affidavits, complaints, decrees, depositions, exceptions, findings of fact, indictments, judgments, motions, opinions, and subpoenas. Bankruptcy case files may include schedules of assets and liabilities. Older case files sometimes include exhibits, though after the 1940's exhibits were usually returned to the litigating parties upon conclusion of the proceedings. Transcripts of testimony are occasionally found. Early case files, especially those before 1900, sometimes offer only a fragmentary record of proceedings, though information concerning a case can sometimes be found in other sources such as court record books and published accounts.

Records of a case can usually be located by the name of the court and case number. The number can sometimes be determined from docket, minute, or order books. Docket books provide a summary of proceedings in each case; minute books are a daily, chronological record of court proceedings; and order books provide the text of each order or judgment. These books often have indexes to the names of the parties involved in the proceedings. Such books are not available for all courts. There is no cumulative index by subject, case name, or other access point. Additional information is sometimes available from the clerk of the court where the case was heard.

Of special interest to researchers studying Chinese-American immigration are thousands of case files relating to habeas corpus actions brought in both circuit and district courts during the late 1800's and early 1900's to contest the Chinese exclusion actions of Federal immigration officials. Court cases resulting from implementation of Chinese exclusion laws are interfiled among other court cases from civil, criminal, and admiralty courts and in court commissioners' files. Besides court proceedings, some files contain exhibits such as passports, photographs, transcripts of interrogations by immigration officials, and certificates of identity from Chinese consulates.

Criminal case files document Federal action taken against Chinese who allegedly entered the United States illegally. Case files may contain complaints, decrees, indictments, judgments, opinions, passports, photographs, subpoenas, Section 6 certificates from Chinese consulates, and transcripts of interrogations.

Post-1943 naturalization documents provide information that may prove helpful to researchers of family history and other topics. (The Chinese exclusion laws barred most Chinese immigrants from becoming naturalized United States citizens during the years of exclusion.) Naturalization records kept by the Federal courts may include such documents as declarations of intention, depositions, and certificates of and petitions for naturalization.

Also documented in Federal court files are cases relating to such matters as illegal contract labor and merchants' alleged violations of Federal tax provisions on cigars, liquor, opium, and other goods. Common law, equity, and bankruptcy case files provide information on the operations of businesses, some of which may have been owned by Chinese or Chinese Americans.

The 1905 Supreme Court case United States v. Ju Toy established the Department of Commerce and Labor as the final level of appeal and due process for immigrants and returning travelers claiming United States citizenship. Thereafter immigrants could appeal to Federal courts only on procedural grounds. As a result of this decision the number of Chinese immigration cases heard in Federal court diminished significantly.

District Court Records at NARA's Northeast Region (Boston) in Waltham, Massachusetts

District Court Records at NARA's Mid Atlantic Region in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

District Court Records at NARA's Great Lakes Region in Chicago, Illinois

District Court Records at NARA's Central Plains Region in Kansas City, Missouri

District Court Records at NARA's Southwest Region in Fort Worth, Texas

District Court Records at NARA's Rocky Mountain Region in Denver, Colorado

District Court Records at NARA's Pacific Region (Riverside) in Riverside, California

District Court Records at NARA's Pacific Region (San Bruno) in San Bruno, California

District Court Records at NARA's Pacific Alaska Region (Seattle) in Seattle, Washington

Bureau of the Census

Record Group 29

The holdings of each Regional Archives include microfilm copies of the U.S. population census for all States from 1790 through 1920. The censuses provide information about residents of organized Chinese communities in the United States as well as Chinese individuals and families living outside these communities. Indexes are available for most census records. Soundex indexes, based on the way a name sounds rather than its spelling, exist for the 1880, 1900, 1910, and 1920 censuses.

U.S. Customs Service

Record Group 36

Administrative History
The Customs Service, created by an act of July 31, 1789, became part of the Department of the Treasury when that department was established in September 1789. The Service enforced numerous laws and regulations pertaining to the import and export of merchandise, collected tonnage taxes, controlled the entrance and clearance of vessels and aircraft, regulated vessels involved in the coastwise and fishing trades, and protected passengers. The Bureau of Customs was established on March 3, 1927, to supervise these activities, and in 1942 it assumed the responsibilities of the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation relating to the registering, enrolling, licensing, and admeasurement of merchant vessels. These responsibilities were transferred to the Coast Guard in 1967.

The act that established the Customs Service in 1789 also provided for the creation of collection districts in various coastal, inland, river, and Great Lakes ports. A collector of customs in each district collected customs revenue; enforced customs and neutrality laws; and administered aspects of commerce, immigration, and navigation laws, such as the documentation of vessels and protection of American seamen and passengers

Prior to 1900, when the INS assumed enforcement of the Chinese exclusion laws, the collector of customs was involved in administering the Chinese exclusion policy. Correspondence and policy records document the activities and opinions of customs officials who carried out these duties.

Customs Service Records at NARA's Pacific Region (Riverside) in Riverside, California

Customs Service Records at NARA's Pacific Region (San Bruno) in San Bruno, California

Customs Service Records at NARA's Pacific Region (Seattle) in Seattle, Washington

Immigration and Naturalization Service

Record Group 85

Administrative History The Office of Superintendent of Immigration was established in the Department of the Treasury by an act of March 3, 1891, and was designated a bureau in 1895 with responsibility for administering the alien contract-labor laws. In 1903 it became part of the Department of Commerce and Labor. Functions relating to naturalization were added in 1906 and it was renamed the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization. In 1913 it was transferred to the Department of Labor as two separate Bureaus of Immigration and of Naturalization, which were reunited by Executive Order on June 10, 1933, to form the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). The INS, which became part of the Department of Justice in 1940, administers laws relating to admission, exclusion, deportation, and naturalization of foreign nationals; patrols United States borders; and supervises naturalization in designated Federal courts.

Many of NARA's Regional Archives hold INS records created primarily during enforcement of the Chinese exclusion laws, 1882-1943. Although the acts were repealed in 1943, some case files may contain correspondence and other documents dated as late as the 1960's. Most case files relate to Chinese immigrants and Chinese Americans departing and reentering the United States, but there are also files for other immigrants who came under the jurisdiction of the Chinese exclusion laws (such as Japanese, Koreans, and Filipinos). Laws and provisions passed after 1943, such as the "Confession Program," which allowed Chinese who had committed fraud to enter the country before September 1957 to confess to the immigration authorities and adjust or correct their status, generated records that may also be contained in these files.

Knowledge of the various exclusion laws fosters an understanding of the types of records generated. Different laws required different forms and documents. Various acts suspended immigration of Chinese laborers, permitted reentry of certain Chinese laborers who left the United States temporarily, created the Section 6 exempt status, and permitted entry of wives and children of "legally domiciled aliens."

The San Francisco earthquake and fire had a major impact on the course of the Chinese exclusion bureaucracy. The events of April 18, 1906, destroyed the Hall of Records, including vital records of births, marriages, and deaths. Because these records were destroyed, a legal Chinese resident who requested permission from the INS to return to China to bring back his family might claim to have more children than he actually did. He would receive the paperwork allowing their immigration, use what he needed for his own family, and use or sell the extra "slots" to bring in nonimmediate family members, other village residents, or strangers. These individuals became known as "paper sons."

As INS officials became aware of the existence of "paper sons," they developed the interrogation process to block their entry into the United States, making it more difficult for legal immigrants to enter the country. The transcripts of these interrogations, found in many Chinese immigration files, add to the documentation for each immigrant and give a broad view of their family and the community left behind in China.

Merchants were exempt from exclusion. A man who could prove his merchant status could obtain a merchant's certificate, allowing him to travel between China and the United States and the Territory of Hawaii. This status also allowed him to bring in his wife and family if he could provide proof of relationship. The records generated by the merchant certificate application process include the merchant's testimony and passport, testimony of Caucasian business colleagues or customers, partnership lists, and photographs.

A 1900 law required all Chinese in Hawaii to register and obtain a certificate of residence. To obtain this certificate the applicant had to submit to an investigation at the INS office. Proof of naturalization by the kingdom of Hawaii or a certificate of Hawaiian birth before the islands came under United States territorial status in 1900, or a special birth certificate for Chinese born in Hawaii after 1900, were used to acquire this certificate of residency and citizenship.

A typical Chinese immigration case file contains information such as the subject's name, place and date of birth, physical appearance, occupation, names and relationships of other family members, and family history. Specific INS proceedings are also documented. Because of the nature of INS investigations, case files provide links to file numbers for related cases, including those for other family members.

The files may contain certificates of identity and residency; correspondence; coaching materials used by "paper sons;" INS findings, recommendations, and decisions; maps of immigrant family residences and villages in China; original marriage certificates; individual and family photographs; transcripts of INS interrogations and special boards of inquiry; and witnesses' statements and affidavits. Prior to 1944 each INS district office developed its own filing systems. Keys exist for only a few of the offices.

To locate a case file a researcher must know the name the immigrant or traveler used on the papers. This may differ from the actual or commonly used name. Having the name in Chinese helps to verify the name on the file. INS officials often did not understand the arrangement of Chinese names and sometimes reversed family and personal names. Forms of address, marital status, or respect such as Ah or Shee were taken to be actual names and listed on the index as such. In some cases officials misheard, misunderstood, or misspelled the actual name. In other cases Chinese names were converted to Hawaiian names for phonetic reasons, such as Chung to Akuna. Case files are unlikely to exist for Chinese who arrived in the United States before 1882 and never left and for Chinese Americans born in the United States who never left.

Immigration and Naturalization Service Records at NARA's Northeast Region (Boston) in Waltham, Massachusetts

Immigration and Naturalization Service Records at NARA's Northeast Region (New York) in New York, New York

Immigration and Naturalization Service Records at NARA's Mid Atlantic Region in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Immigration and Naturalization Service Records at NARA's Great Lakes Region in Chicago, Illinois

Immigration and Naturalization Service Records at NARA's Southwest Region in Fort Worth, Texas

Immigration and Naturalization Service Records at NARA's Pacific Region (Riverside) in Riverside, California

Immigration and Naturalization Service Records at NARA's Pacific Region (San Bruno) in San Bruno, California

Immigration and Naturalization Service Records at NARA's Pacific Region (Seattle) in Seattle, Washington

Public Health Service, 1912-1968

Record Group 90

Administrative History
The Public Health Service, originally called the Marine Hospital Service, had its origins in an act of July 16, 1798, which authorized hospitals for the care of sick and disabled American merchant seamen. The scope of its activities was greatly expanded by subsequent legislation. It was part of the Department of the Treasury from 1798 to 1939, the Federal Security Agency from 1939 to 1953, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in 1953, and the Department of Health and Human Services in 1979.
The Public Health Service operates marine hospitals, hospitals for specific diseases, medical facilities for Federal penal institutions, quarantine and health stations, and research institutions and laboratories. It disseminates health information and conducts research in the cause, prevention, and control of disease.

Public Health Service Records at NARA's Pacific Region (San Bruno) in San Bruno, California

United States Attorneys

Record Group 118

Administrative History
The Judiciary Act of September 24, 1789, made provision for U.S. attorneys appointed by the president. U.S. attorneys have functioned under the general supervision of the Department of Justice since its creation in 1870. They investigate violations of Federal criminal laws, present evidence to grand juries, prosecute Federal criminal cases, and serve as the Federal Government's attorney in civil litigation in which the United States is a party or has an interest.

U.S. Attorneys Records at NARA's Pacific Region (San Bruno) in San Bruno, California

U.S. Courts of Appeals

Record Group 276

Administrative History
The courts of appeals are intermediate courts created by an act of March 3, 1891, to relieve the Supreme Court from considering all appeals in cases originally decided by Federal trial courts. They review final and certain interlocutory decisions of district courts (see RG 21) except where the law provides for direct review by the Supreme Court. They also review orders of Federal administrative bodies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the National Labor Relations Board.
The records include case files of appeals by defendants charged with violation of the Chinese exclusion laws. Case files may contain copies of complaints, decrees, indictments, judgments, opinions, subpoenas, transcripts of interrogations, and other supporting documents. The files are arranged consecutively by case number, with cases involving Chinese interfiled with other types of cases. There is no separate series of appeals for cases involving Chinese.

Courts of Appeals Records at NARA's Mid Atlantic Region in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Courts of Appeals Records at NARA's Pacific Region (San Bruno)in San Bruno, California

United States Marshals Service

Record Group 527

Administrative History
The Judiciary Act of September 24, 1789, made provision for U.S. marshals appointed by the president. They have functioned under the general supervision of the Department of Justice since its creation in 1870.
U.S. marshals execute and serve writs, processes, and orders issued by U.S. courts, U.S. commissioners or magistrates, and commissions. They also notify the Department of Justice of defiance of Federal authority.

U.S. Marshals Service Records at NARA's Great Lakes Region in Chicago, Illinois

U.S. Marshals Service Records at NARA's Pacific Region (San Bruno) San Bruno, California