“In 1927, sociologist R. D. McKenzie observed that the Chinese in America had stopped fighting against the 'principle of exclusion' but continued to focus on the method of enforcement.”
- Erika Lee, author of At America's Gates
“Although he was a U.S. citizen by birth and had the legal right to reenter the United States... |
“Mr. Yick Wo, who had operated a laundry at the same site for 20 years, applied for a renewal of his business license but was turned down because his |
(Courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration-Pacific Region, San Bruno)
“Immigration officials denied Wong’s reentry into the U.S. on the claim that Wong—though born in the U.S.—was not a U.S. citizen because his parents were Chinese persons ineligible for citizenship. However, the Supreme Court confirmed that Wong Kim Ark was indeed a U.S. citizen under the Fourteenth Amendment and could not be excluded from the country.” |
(Courtesy of the Constitution Project)
“Yick Wo v. Hopkins was the first case in which the U.S. Supreme Court rules that a law that was race-neutral on its face but that was administered in a prejudicial manner was an infringement of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.” |
“The Queue Ordinance was declared unconstitutional in Ho Ah Kow v. Matthew Nunan.
The Bingham Ordinance was declared unconstitutional in In re: Lee Sing, 43 F.359.
San Francisco ordinance for quarantine of Chinese was declared unconstitutional in
Wong Wai v. Williamson and Jew Ho v. Williamson.”
- Museum of Chinese in America, New York
“The Six Companies responded to racist acts and legislation by organizing immigrant communities and employing effective diplomatic strategies against exclusion.” |
“‘In the effort to carry out the policy of excluding Chinese laborers...
grave injustice and wrongs have been done to this nation and to the people of China’ …
the purpose of the Chinese exclusion laws was
‘to prevent the immigration of Chinese laborers and
not to restrict the freedom of movement of Chinese persons belonging to the exempt classes…
The law must be enforced without harshness.’”
- President Theodore Roosevelt, 1905