Interrogations Of Chinese Immigrants At Angel Island

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Interrogations of Chinese Immigrants at Angel Island

Chinese immigration, after being shut down for many years by governmental legislation and an anti-
Chinese climate resumed quickly after 1906. The major earthquake and fire that occurred in San Francisco
lent the Chinese immigrants a window of opportunity to regain entrance to America. Immigrants could now
claim, without proof, that they were indeed the son or daughter of a citizen or a partner in a legitimate
business. These paper sons and paper merchants increased the number of Chinese immigrants by an
unbelievable rate. It was this supposed population explosion that would lead the United States to
investigate all incoming Chinese immigrants. Being wary of the impossibility of so many legitimate
children of U.S. citizens of Chinese descent, the department of immigration and naturalization sought out to
verify that these people were indeed the true sons and daughters or the actual businessmen that they
claimed to be. Therefore it was against this historical background and unde!
r these particular auspices that the interrogations at Angel Island were carried out from 1910 to 1940. These
interrogations were by no means fair, nor were they based on any other legal or practical precedent. While
unreasonable detentions were already the norm, the act of interrogating immigrants to the extent that the
Chinese were interrogated was unheard of in history. These interrogations were intricate and detailed, and
designed to ensnare unwitting Chinese immigrants seeking entrance into the United States. The
interrogations not only presented a hurdle for incoming immigrants by prolonging their detention at Angel
Island and increasing the bureaucracy required to process Chinese immigrants, but would deeply scar the
Chinese landing in the United States. Moreover, the traumatic experiences at Angel Island coupled with
other practices following the detentions such as raids of Chinatown during the Red Scare of the 1950's led
to a persistent fear of deportation by landed C!
hinese. The interrogations were more than just simple interview questions about one's village or parents,
rather they were, taken as a whole, another method to exclude the Chinese from America.
The entire interrogation was loosely structured but by no means were they were regular or fair. After being
held at Angel Island on a writ of habeas corpus, Chinese immigrants were interrogated by a Board of
Special Inquiry which was compose

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