sensitivities of our environment that we live in.

i'm really excited to talk to you today for our session this afternoon because so many of us as americans we grow up learning about the history of immigration through ellis island. this is what we talked about last week. it's the history of european immigrants coming to the new world under the shadow of the statue of liberty. it's often an up lifting story but not many of us know the

history of immigration through angel island. this is the immigration station in san francisco and it's an important site not only for what happened back then in the early 20th century but also because it's so timely today. p ask are not many of us know the history of immigration through angel island. this is the immigration station

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 obama's immigration at townhall" " house conservatives warn boehner: don't 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 obama's executive action referring to families. ms. lee: his executive action that would protect millions of undocumented immigrants, the parents of a documented immigrants. this would halt of their deportation. but we know that this is quite a controversial action right now. governors of 26 state 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 will continue to fight. he had a town hall in miami that was sponsored 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 nation's immigration debate but it does seem like it is a contracted one. there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. 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 short-lived and most immigrants were admitted pretty easily into the country. not only that, but this story has taken on a myth of its own. it is the bedrock of this idea that the u.s. 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 constituted 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. 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. this is the history that is best

exemplified through immigration through angel island. this is in the san francisco bay. it is the other island in the san francisco bay that is now california state park. so, the immigration station on angel island was open from 1910 until 1940. we primarily think about it as an entry point for immigrants from china and japan. two thirds of the immigrants who did come through angel island were from those two countries. as you can see, there are over 80 countries represented for the immigration stream that came through angel island according to our research. it arranged from places like denmark, french indochina to 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 lead when immigrants would dock, they would land on a peer and go up this 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, for whites, and for asians. within that administration building, there were separate waiting areas as well. 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. it is in new york and most of

the immigrants coming over are coming from the atlantic. into island is situated in san francisco. it is primarily enforcing laws that are targeting asia and immigrants and the laws are very, very different. while ellis island is an mostly processing center, angel island is a place of interrogation, health examinations, and detention. this history is not as well-known, but it is important because it helped shape our modern immigration system. let's 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 we are living in today and the other is around the turn of the century from 1830-1930. there are 35 million immigrants who come during this century of migration. the vast majority are from europe.

this is about one million immigrants from asia and another one million come from latin america. in the big picture, this is just a drop in the bucket, right? one million out of 35 million who are coming. it is pretty diverse. there are about 450,000 chinese, the largest group. there is also 380,000 japanese. 150,000 filipinos. south asia is the term that was used to describe immigrants from india, pakistan, and bangladesh. remember, there's only one million of them but asia and immigration helps to ignite some of our most divisive immigration debates. who were these immigrants?

the chinese -- they are like the european immigrants that we study. they are mostly young, male laborers. they want to come to the u.s. they think 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. over the years, they decide eventually that they would like to stay in the u.s. so they start calling for their family members. similarly, the japanese are also male laborers. remember, this is a time when immigrants are needed for their labor. it is for railroad building, agricultural work, light in the streets.

japanese are also male laborers. they are more educated than some of the other agent immigrants because of education in japan. they also come thinking they will stay only temporarily but over time, again, like the chinese, they decide the u.s. is worth settling down in and they start calling for their wives to come as well. by world war ii, the japanese-american population is such that there is really a great proportion of us-born children. this is very different from the other groups. the immigrants you are coming from south asia are really extremely diverse. there is a mixture of hindus, muslims, but primarily they are from one area which is present-day 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 are very much a part of the nationalist movement. koreans are a small group because it japan has colonized korea by this time. japan is very much controlling who goes in and who leaves the country. only a small number of koreans are coming over to the u.s. primarily to the west coast and hawaii. they also are coming for work but more so than other groups. they really see themselves as refugees. similarly to the russian jews we were studying last week.

they are fleeing japanese colonialism. korean language was banned, newspapers were banned. there was a lot of surveillance. they see themselves as refugees fleeing their homeland. potentially, staying away for a long time. they come as a families. one of the other things that makes them unique or different from other agent immigrants groups is that they are often christian because of the role of u.s. missionaries in korea at this time. it is a diverse group of people coming. the last group are filipinos. they are coming as male laborers but again, what makes them unique is that they are coming as a totally different immigrant status and not as an immigrant status. the philippines have been colonized by the u.s.

when they migrate, they migrate as u.s. nationals. this is a different legal category. they are not subjected to immigration laws, which is important. they can come without interrogations and inspections. they have seen themselves as americans. they have grown up with american culture, teachers, believing about the glory and riches of america. they believe they are coming to 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. when they come, they often face a lot of surprising anti-asian sentiments.

when they come, they set in motion the reaction that americans have to them -- it sets in motion some of the most divisive immigration debates we have ever had in this country. this may be surprising to many people because today, when we talk about asian-americans, we talk about the popular understandings that they are on the rise. what is the stereotypes of asian-americans? they are smart. what else? they are a particular type of minority. do you remember the term? >> they are the model minority. >> what does that mean? >> out of all marginalized groups, they are exemplary and constitute a narrative that the rest of marginalized people should subscribe to. ms. lee: so they can succeed,

they can achieve economic, academic success and they do sell on their on without government programs. asian-americans are the model minority. that is the stereotypes today. it may be surprising in the early 20th century, they were considered not only undesirable immigrants but also 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 anti-asian sentiment with this quote -- meaning they were the first non-european immigrant group to come in such great numbers. they came at a time that there was class tensions, changing

race relations, this was post-civil war, post reconstruction. these ideas about what does it mean to be an american, to be free, 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 are ripe with all of these massive changes in american society. some of the ways that anti-asian sentiment plays out is through prejudice, bias, prejudgment, economic discrimination, political disenfranchisement. remember the nationalization act that said only free white persons can become citizens? already, agent immigrants are barred from becoming natural citizens. physical violence.

immigration exclusion, which is what we will be talking about mostly today. social segregation. you cannot join certain clubs, live in areas. during world war ii, incarceration. the mass relocation and incarceration of japanese americans. what did this look like in person? what did this look like in reality end on the ground? this is a cartoon from 1881 in san francisco. it is from a magazine called "the wasp." 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 overwhelming numbers of chinese immigrants

and it is macabre of the statue of liberty but it is this image of conquest because it is standing on a skull. it is clearly a chinese man due to the long braid. it is definitely this sort of near image of new york. ms. lee: good. what is the title of the cartoon? >> a statue for our harbor. ms. lee: right. in san francisco as opposed to new york. in new york, they have a statue of liberty welcoming european immigrants. in san francisco, this is what our statue would be if we allow chinese immigration to come without restrictions. a couple things that jeremy just mentioned. we can recognize this as a chinese male.

he has this long hairstyle. this care style was mandated by the ching empire. the cheating empire. in the u.s., it became a sign of femininity, exotic miss, sub humanness. 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. >> and opium pipe? ms. lee: yes. another symbol of the vice of chinese immigration. they are bringing drugs and immorality. there is writing emanating from the ring around his head. can you see what that is? it is hard to see from the

middle. the bottom right is filth. what else? >> immorality. ms. lee: up on top? >> disease. ms. lee: disease. we are reading right to left as the chinese would. this one says ruin to -- can anyone point out those last two? >> ruin to white labor. ms. lee: right. it is bringing filth, immorality, disease to white labor. it is catastrophic to san francisco, to california. the foundation of the statue is crumbling. the ships coming are capsizing. the moon has slanted eyes and the background. this is the future of

california, the future of the u.s. this is not an outlier. this is not a far right or far left or extreme example about this anti-immigrant sentiment. this is one of the most well respected, well read, illustrated magazines in the late 19th century. 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 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 well-known incidents, the massacre of chinese at rock

springs, wyoming in september, 1885. it happened around a 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. there are about 28 two killed. 15 wounded and hundreds are driven out into the outlying areas.

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 agent immigrants groups were? never the less, one this idea of chinese immigrants as being a threat to the u.s. -- a class threat, a racial threat, and economic threat -- it became attached to other immigrant groups as well. the newspapers would say "chinese excluded but now we have a japanese problem." they kept on calling them another invasion. it kind of got a little ridiculous because there was the second agent invasion and the second and it came this typology that was framing the threat of asia and immigration. it had very real consequences. on the left is a newspaper clipping from the new york times in 1907. this is more troubling, i think.

this is a private letter that was sent to a townsman in california. it was collected and archived at the uc berkeley archives. this is from the 1930's. 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 will stop this was called the yellow peril. one element was the familiar refrain japanese immigrants were racially inferior, they were taking away jobs, they were mixing with whites. the second aspect more unique to japan and japan's rising power in the world. they are an empire. he defeated russia in 19 a four - 1904. they have colonized korea. there is this idea of an agent empire that is infusing that anti-japanese sentiment with even greater force. they are even more of a danger because those japanese emigrant farmers picking your strawberries may be the first advance guard from a colonizing japan. this was the rhetoric in the 1920's and 30's. 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. what does this say? what does this mean to you? 1942. that day is significant. >> there is an element of premeditation with the coming of the japanese. the cartoon implies they have some sort of connection with the squeeze ever government of their country of origin and their willing to act on the desires of that government should they be called to do so. ms. lee: how so? what are they going to do? >> blow up something. the little boxes they are carrying say tnt so it is assumed they will do some sort of damage. ms. lee: what about the ways in which they are drawn, the number of them.

>> there are a number of them in a variety of different cloaks. in a different clothing but all a 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. they are uniform and that only contribute to this militarizing portrayal of the japanese. ms. lee: good. remember the statue for our harbor? what was the chinese guy wearing? was he wearing typical western dress? >> he was wearing really tattered robes. ms. lee: either you could read it as he is wearing classical greek robes like the statue of liberty but they got tattered or chinese robes. 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 up and down the pacific coast. can

they are forcibly removed. at the state corners. ordering anyone with japanese ancestry to remove themselves so that they are barred from moving into those areas and to assemble at various different assembly centers where they will be incarcerated for the duration of the war at several camps throughout the u.s. this is one of the ways in which the asian immigration story ends. before we get to that, we want

to consider the other aspect. the other path. that was barring new immigrants from coming over. you have been reading a lot about chinese exclusion. what are some things this act does? the name says it all right? but not everything. not every chinese excluded. who is? yes? >> anyone who is a merchant or the children of a nativeborn citizen. >> good. some are excluded. chinese laborers are excluded.

after the very beginning, the exclusion act just says for 10 years. it is like an incremental step. chinese laborers are excluded. but there are exempt classes. teachers, students, travelers, merchants, and diplomats. it is not only racially based it is class-based. it is those who want to learn about the united states. those who want to visit the united states and spend money here. it is those who are engaged in international trade. u.s.-china relationships and economic trades and diplomats. but those who are the ball, the vast majority of chinese at that time -- thwho are barred, the best

majority of chinese at that time -- vast majority of chinese at that time. they never went so far as to advocate for restrictions. they wanted longer times for naturalization, but they never said we are going to close the gates. at this time, the u.s. does do that. and it doesn't just last for 10 years. it gets renewed in 1892. it gets renewed in 1902. it gets made permanent and 1984. it is not until we banned discrimination in immigration law. it last a long time and has lots of repercussions. exclusion act is just that first step toward closing ferret gates to asian immigration.

it will not be the last. this is the irony of chinese exclusion. chinese laborers are barred. this is a time period when 32 million europeans are still coming over. laborers are still needed. japanese immigration increases because they are still needed in the mines, farms, and plantations of hawaii. but again, that familiar pattern of anti-asian sentiment kicks into gear. by 1908, we also prohibit japanese laborers. we do not dare call this a japanese exclusion act. we don't want to bother japan. we don't want to insult japan. japan we think of as an equal nation. we pressure through diplomatic channels to have a diplomatic

agreement be reached. we call it a gentleman's agreement as if it was mutually agreed-upon by two equal nations. japanese laborers are prohibited by 1908. again, you bar japanese labor. immigration from south asia starts to increase. the u.s. feels it has another immigration crisis on hand. the 1917 immigration act decides to take a little bit more of a drastic approach and basically draws an entire red line throughout all of asia and calls it "the asiatic barred zone." it is aimed at prohibiting south asians. there are only 8000 coming, but still, this law institutes new restrictions.

in 1924 immigration act also has a blanket exclusion. one group that is not covered under that is yet zone is japan. even though laborers were barred, others were not. students were coming over, but especially women. 1924 immigration act is primary aims is to restrict southern and eastern european 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. the philippines is an economy you cannot ban -- is a colony you cannot ban from going to one

part to another. we have this odd coalition. philippine nationalists who are eager for independence for the philippines and anti-asian exclusion us. -- exluclusionists. we will grant nominal independence to the philippines. by doing that, they will no longer be u.s. nationals, but instead aliens. foreigners. immigrants. they will then be subjected to immigration laws. you go from large-scale immigration from the philippines to a quota that only gives them 50 slots per year. these are the laws. the u.s. has a problem. as soon as we pass these immigration laws, these are transformative.

we have never done this before. we're not sure how to enforce immigration laws. for example, the chinese exclusion act, passed this law in may. they are coming to san francisco. immigration officials who are really customs officials who have just been told, i the way come in addition to counting the barrels of cotton, you are supposed to enforce these new laws. the custom patrols are throwing their hands up and saying, what? how -- why? what do you want us to do with them? let's take the case of chinese merchants. they could still come. a ship load of immigrants come into san francisco bay. customs officials go up to the ship pit which one of you are laborers? which ones are merchants? how will they determine who is a laborer or a merchant?

this is the beginning of immigration documents and immigration interrogation. what happens if the case is percolated that the merchant needs two to verify those claims? you probably have to send someone to go and get them. that takes time. very soon after these laws have passed, the u.s. government realizes they don't know what they are doing just yet. you have these immigrants. examinations are taking longer than we thought. we have nowhere to put them. they just kept them on the ship. the ship captain would say, it is all well and good that you do are using my ship as a detention center, but i have to go back and on schedule across the pacific to pick up more passengers. they removed those detainees to

another ship. they talked about san francisco bay having these ships in the bay that were basically immigrant detention centers. to solve this problem, they have a small detention shed they get built in the 1890's. it is crowded. it is a fire trap. it is not escape proved to the u.s. government allocates money in 1903 to build and immigration station on an island that is escape proved an hard to get to an hard to leave and come called it the ellis island of the west. some of the newspapers are talking of how it is a beautiful resort and immigrations will be lucky to spend days under the palm trees at immigration station, but we know that did not turn out to be the case. here is another iranian from this time -- irony from this

time period. immigration laws still keep coming. this is not unlike our contemporary immigration patterns. this is why we have an undocumented immigration situation. even though the laws and defenses and the gates have been built come immigration still want to come to the u.s. 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. those factors we often talk about with immigration. civil unrest famine, growing numbers of people, population explosion and 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 north of hong kong. by this time, it is 1910. chinese have been coming. chinese families have become dependent on migration as a form of economic survival. even though the laws have passed, they are still dependent on migration to the united states. how do they get around the laws? and there is this revolution in transportation. the steamships are getting faster. they are bigger. fares are cheaper. at the same time the laws are getting past it agents are going out to the countryside.

i can get you there for this much. the business is still being drummed up. the irony is that you have laws that are restricting one group but the u.s. still needs immigrant labor. we know this because the millions of europeans are still coming in unrestricted. there are some chinese immigrant groups that we know could still come. merchants, u.s. citizens. the gate is not totally closed. but all of this leaves us to the fact that chinese either tried to come in through those restricted openings or they tried to find other ways of coming in. this is why we call chinese immigrants the first undocumented immigrants.

about 100,000 still come during the exclusion area. when hundred thousand, -- 100 000 come. this is an excerpt from one of the interviews you have in your book. he says that the chinese didn't want to come in, but were kind of forced. would you mind reading this out for us? >> sure. >> we didn't want to come in he illegally, but we were forced to because of immigration laws. if we told the truth, it didn't work. we had to take a crooked path. >> what's the crooked path? what's the crooked path he is talking about? >> sons and daughters?

they would have family or friends are summoned a new 00-- or someone they knew. they said that they were family members. they just had to provide pieces of paper. >> sons or daughters by paper. they still allow the sons or children of the merchants or u.s. citizens to come. ok. does anyone recognize this photo? yes. what is it? >> i really like this photo. in order to interrogate come immigrants -- in order to pass interrogation, immigrants would have to study notes. they'd have difficult questions. sometimes it would be smuggled into foods like an anise or put

it in a capsule in a bowl of soup -- lifood like bananas or put in a capsule in a bowl of soup. they would hand notes out to whoever it belonged to. >> they would provide the answers to some of the interrogation. notes crumpled up into peanut shells and also oranges. think about your best efforts at passing a test and strategies here. this is a government exhibit. immigration officials found this banana and found these notes. took a picture of it. you could see it laid out on a scrapbook and sent it back to d.c. as proof of the conditions of chinese immigration at this time.

the typewritten text below says the admissibility of some chinese persons into the u.s. is dependent upon the relationship to other chinese already in the country. one of the test of the relationship claims is a comparison of the statement of applicant and is allowed relatives is common knowledge between them if the relationship existed. they compare the questions and answers. the exhibit illustrates one of the methods to send applicants held in detention on angel island coaching information. contemplated -- to make their testimony agree with that by the elected relative. the chinese letter were transmitted in a banana. here is the letter on the left. on the right is literally a map of the village with every

residents and detail of their allegedly shared village so they could answer that question. these were transmitted in the nana as shown here in the trick was discovered for the fruit was given to the applicant. this is some of the consequences of chinese immigration during the exclusion era. the interrogation, the coaching notes, and also things like this. this is a page taken out of an immigration officer's log in california. pages and pages of photographs and details of every immigrant in the city. he is a cook. the interpreter changed the na

me. no facial marks. you can kind of imagine the immigration officer going up and down the street with his little log and keeping track of all of the chinese immigrants in this 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 crack downs. undocumented immigration. investigations of fraudulent immigration documents. we have stricter and lengthier interrogations and examinations. we have for the first time we are requiring immigrants to have on their persons at all times what we know today as green cards, but certificates of identity. for the first time, we institute

these for chinese immigrants. if you are found without these you could be arrested and deported for not being in the country legally. longer detentions. immigration raids, arrests. there are numerous raids around the country immigration officers and local police looking for undocumented immigrants. i remember looking through immigration files from the national archives and coming across this poor guy's record. he may or may not have come in with fraudulent papers, immigration officials were convinced that he was hiding something. they had an immigration raid. they descended upon this chinese restaurant where he was working. the text of the report describes

immigration officers coming in through one door and watching him run out the back. he left behind his wallet. the immigration officers confiscated it and put it in his file. you could open it up. there is no money in there anymore. he had his business cards. notes. photographs. you can imagine that he left in a hurry. the fear he had at that time of deportation and what chinese have called living under the shadow of exclusion. oh is fearing deportation. always fearing they would be found out. or being painted with illegality even if they were not. consequences of the paper system. it may have allowed them to enter the country, but it had lots of consequences.

their fates were held in the hands of immigration officials at angel island. this is a photograph of them in the 1930's. you could pick up there is one asian female employee. she was probably a matron in the woman's barracks. three asian interpreters. in the 1930's, interpreters could be asian. when the immigration area began, it was against the law to hire anyone who is nonwhite, even if the job was interpreter. it was believed that the asians would naturally collude with each other or be easily bribed. you had the situation in the 1880's and 1990's -- 1890's with interpreters who were non-asian

and were quite trying to interpret very difficult languages and dialects. some of them didn't know all of them very well. we have immigration officials on angelo island and interviews in the book you have been reading that detail that -- angel island and interviews in the book you have been reading that detail they felt it was a difficult situation and try to give the benefit of doubt. we also know officials were hardened. some are veterans and had helped to pass some of these laws. they 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 remember from the family history come interviews, what are some things that former

detainees talk about in terms of the medical exam? yes. >> they said it was humiliating. they had to undress in front of everyone. they thought the hook worm was a disease specifically for chinese immigrants. >> humiliation. 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 undressing in a group. there were certain diseases that were deemed excludable. there are parasitic diseases. remember the film about ellis island. the diseases that all immigration officials were looking for work and tedious diseases. dangers, contagious diseases that one could pass to another. but these diseases that were

being tested for here on angel island were not only contagious, but parasitic. when you travel somewhere or drink water or food poisoning or other things, these parasitic diseases could be easily cured. it's not contagious. it was used specifically to exclude immigrants, particularly from asia. parasitic to seize his were known to be especially prevalent in asia -- diseases are known to be especially prevalent in asia. you had a physical exam. then you had interrogations that could last a couple of hours. they could left 2-3 days. it could last even longer. the typical length was just a few days. there are some immigration files where if you count the number of questions come in numbers up to 1000 questions.

this is a scan of one -- just one page of one interrogation. it goes boom, boom, boom. what is your name? have you ever been married? when and where were you born? the singlespaced questions and answers are about six pages long. i will do an exercise with you. i will put these questions up. i want you to raise your hands if you think you could answer these questions. i want you to keep your hands up if you can keep on answering the questions and put them down as soon as you think you have reached a question that you probably cannot answer. that you don't have the true and detailed answer. ready? all right.

what is your name? good. how old are you? what are your parents names and what are their ages? easy so far, right? one where they married? uh-oh. [laughter] do you have any brothers or sisters? you could raise your hands again. what are their names and ages? good. what is the name of your village? how about the name of your hometown? how many houses are on your street? [laughter] who lives -- just pretend -- on the third house on the left-hand side of your street? list all names and ages. ok. [laughter]

who is the oldest man in your village? or home or city? how many steps lead up to your house? you are all out. no one is coming into the country. not only this, you would need to know the answers and like your sister or father, you would have to say the exact same thing. how many clocks are in your house? how many chickens does your neighbor have? how far is it from your village to the nearest hill? one word the windows put into your house? -- when word that windows put into your house? ok. i need to volunteers.

one to be the harsh interrogation assistant and another to be who was applying to be a son of a native. who wants to be my harsh interrogation person? ok. tyler. who will be fong hoy kun? great. you go first, immigration official. >> which direction does the front of your house face? >> face west. >> your alleged father has indicated that his house is in a village that faces east. >> the sun rises in front of our house and sets in the back of our house. >> can you not figured this

matter out for yourself? >> i do not really know directions. >> how many rooms are there on the ground floor of your house? >> three. i mean, there is a parlor, two bedrooms and a kitchen. there are five rooms in all downstairs. >> do you wish us to understand you would forget how many bedrooms are in a house where you claim to have lived 17 years? >> yes, i forgot about it. >> do you visit the market with your father when he was last in china? >> no. >> why not? if you are really his son -- [laughter] >> good job. [applause] >> so he is under pressure. maybe he'd misremembered.

maybe he trips up. he changes. this is the exact record that the stenographer is noting changes or coughs or something like that. this is the typical back and forth. if i were him, i would be nervous. i would be scared. perhaps by the wns -- end of this, a little angry. we know these interrogations were terrifying. this is a quote. this is a picture of law shee low of her wedding. she told interviewers that "one woman was questioned all day and

then deported. she told me they asked her about life in china and chickens and the neighbors and the direction the house faced. how would i know all that? i was scared." these long interrogations, going back and forth, waiting for people to come to give testimony. tensions were quite long. this is the only photograph we have a what the barracks look like inside around 1910. extremely crowded conditions. reaching 200-300 men were housed at any time in the barracks. women were detained elsewhere on the second floor of an administration building. on average, they stayed for 2-3 weeks. they are let out for one hour a

day. this is what they have. they are outside. this is another quote from lee puey you who was detained for 20 months. they were very active in challenging. they hired lawyers. they would take their cases up to court and all the way up to the supreme court. she talks about how she must have cried a full bowl of tears on angel island. how does this compare? there is around 12 million who come to ellis island during its operations from 1891-1952. 20% of all immigrant arrivals are detained.

those are the women, children who are writing to join their husbands. they need to wait until their husbands and fathers come and retrieve them. 20% are detained. it is not for long. 1-2 days on average for detention time. 90% are admitted. this is why we think of ellis island as more of a processing center going through. the numbers are much different for angel island. the scale is quite different but we see the differences right away with detentions. 20% on ellis island and 50% of all immigrant arrivals are detained on angel island. instead of counting detention

time from 1-2 days, they count them and weeks, months, years. longest detention time was heaven hundred 56 days -- 756 f days. 93% of chinese are admitted. that is much higher than one what expect, but it is only after these long detentions and after lengthy legal battles that are of course expensive as well. we know so much about the island experience because of these poems that have been preserved. the author must have carved it over and over again. this one fits with many of the themes you have written about already. from now on, i'm departing far from this building. all of my

fellow villagers are rejoicing with me. don't say everything was in western-style even if it is built of jade, it has turned into a cage. immigration officials thought that detainees were just writing graffiti on the wall. but these two guys copied more than 100 poems into their notebooks in the 1930's when they were detained. it is because of those poems we have been able to preserve so many. i would like three volunteers to help me read these and think about what they mean. who would like to be the first one to read this poem?

yes. thank you. >> poems composed from these walls, they are all cries of complaints and sadness. i must remember this chapter once existed. in my daily needs, i must be frugal. needless extravagance leads youth to ruin. all my can patriots should please be mindful. return home early. >> thank you. what are some of the messages here? there are a couple at least. >> i concentrated on this poem within my response and compared it to low's experience. every flex i must remember this chapter once existed. it is contradicting to most of the immigrants experiences at

angel island. it was so detrimental, i'm sure it is something you would want to forget. where she'd definitely to me had this humility where it was something she came out strong and said this is a chapter i need to remember. it will help me be strong and provide for myself and my family in such a difficult era in the u.s. i thought it was interesting. >> good. even though it might be an experience they would like to forget, the multitude of these expressions on these walls, tens of thousands of poems complaints, and sadness, that we must remember that 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 immigrant plan?

yes. tyler. >> may be referencing the extravagance of american lifestyle in contrast to this person's homeland act in asia. his plan may be to return once they can establish themselves and make some money. >> yeah. not to stay, but to return. probably this experience has helped them convince themselves that the united states is not a welcoming place. once you earn enough, return home early. ok. who is like to read this one? thank you. >> imprisoned in the wooden building day after day, my freedom withheld; how could i bear to talk about it? i look to see who is happy. the days are long. my sad nights are long.

after experiencing such loneliness and sorrow, why not just return home and learn to plow the fields? >> thank you. what are some of the messages here in that first stanza? yes. >> the detention on angel island was very bleak. long detentions. this environment caused a lot of detainees to become emotionally depressed and probably chronically depressed judging by the counts of suicides. many questioned why they came in the first place? >> it goes right into the stec in -- second stanza. after experience such loneliness and sorrow, why not give up and

learn to plow the fields? so coming with lots of hope to the u.s., this experience change them and caused loneliness and despair. so much so that he couldn't bear to talk about it. really questioning why they came to the u.s. in the first place. ok. last poem. last volunteer. yes. >> i clasped hands in parting with my brothers and classmates. because of the mouth, i hastened to cross the american ocean. how was i to know that the western barbarians had lost their hearts and reason? we had to have our chest examine while naked. all because our country's power

cannot yet expand. there comes a day when china will be united, i'll cut out the hearts and owls of the western barbarians. >> a little more complicated than the earlier ones. a little bit more passionate. what are some of the messages here? >> yes. it demonstrates integration as a necessary process. it gives testament to this notion that immigrants come as a necessity. they don't choose to come simply for fun. he references instability in this country -- in his country as to why they are here. >> political instability and global inequality, right? our countrymen suffered this treatment all because our country's power cannot get expand.

it pits the chinese against the so-called western barbarians. putting this on americans is even more pointed. quite a strong statement there.

this is where all the interrogations happen. it is scheduled to be demolished. it was a history that was lost. detainees themselves didn't want to remember. they identified this period as being under the shadow of exclusion. they didn't talk about their experiences even to their own families. there are many family histories that you have read where the children are saying we were told

to never use our real names or i didn't even know what my real name was until x y or z. whenever he brought up the word angel island to his family come he would hear, "shh... don't talk about it." immigration history was not yet a recognizable field in the 1960's. the immigrant was not yet studied. and history was not well preserved. we were first able to discover the poems because apart ranger found the poems as he was going through the barracks.

he told his professor about it, a biology professor, whose mother happened to have been a detainee on angel island. that professor told other faculty and students and they newly created asian-american studies department. there were inspired to study the poems and preserve them and do the oral histories. the three authors of the book that you are reading or not professional historians. one was an engineer. another was a public. another was a librarian. they took it upon themselves to go into the community to conduct oral histories to translate the poems. this is what the book looked like when it was first published in 1980. publishing houses did not want to publish it. they self published it. 35 years ago.

there were experienced the history of racial exclusion and undocumented immigration. it helped to feel they could let it go. it wasn't all their fault. it was part of a larger history. it was part of a larger pattern of discrimination. it helped to legitimize the angel island experience. it allowed detainees to feel like they didn't have to be ashamed anymore. she would find people to interview and they would

politely say, no, thank you. i don't want to talk about it. now there are many who want to tell judy their stories that she cannot keep up with them. it has become a new type of experience. it is not just for the chinese-americans, but it has been recognized as important for all americans. in 1998, it became a national historic landmark. the rationale behind that comes from the committee organization that helped put this movement forward. they said in their proposal that the angel island immigration station represents the first only, and the best opportunity to fully interpret the history of asian immigration to then united states. this is our limit rock. our alamo -- this is our planet

rock -- pylymouth rock. our alamo. angel island should be recognized and declared a national historic landmark. this is a photograph at that signing and at that ceremony. there was a massive effort since then to raise money to restore that building. this was the men's detention barracks. it has been fully restored. the footprint of where the administration building safed is now an open space and has exhibits of interrogation tables and photographs. they have a store the men's barracks.

this is what look like at the reopening in 2009. there are now documentaries that health to explain the preservation of poems and the new discoveries that have been found. in the years since these efforts, there have been 200 poems that have been rediscovered. as been hundreds of inscriptions and many different languages including punjabi, german, english, spanish japanese. the has also been illustrations that have been restored. there has also been new research. in addition with new family histories and new poems and another book on a jail -- angel island the looks like a broad range of immigration station as

well. all of this has led to what some could interpret as a closure of the chapter on the 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 regarded -- regarded that chinese exclusion laws. they unfairly limited their civil rights and legalized discrimination and trauma. this has been an important

landmark event type of reconciliation. this public acknowledgment that chinese exclusion happened. it was detrimental. it did not coincide with our local beliefs. -- political beliefs. this was an important event in that history. i want us to question whether it is really time to close that chapter with a simple statement of regret? help us put into that history? let us forget about what happened and move on? think about other immigrant histories and chapter stories? what are the lessons of angel island today? there are diverse groups of immigrants who came through the immigrant station. not all were detained. not all might have had this

experience. the many offended. i would argue this other history -- -- not all may have had this experience, but many did. i would argue that this other history -- poems express frustration, disappointment, anger, resentment of immigrant experience. it helps us to confront america's history of discrimination in restriction in immigration laws. as we know, this is not a story we could just safely leave to the early 20th century. these are two photos and

headlines that were taken this past summer. central american refugees, most of them children or mothers were coming across the border to that u.s. for asylum. for many weeks, we did not know what conditions these young immigrant detainees were being housed in. a few weeks into it, we were able to find and get some sneak peeks on the photos. this is 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 read off a couple of numbers for you.