‘A Cloak for Discrimination’
Trump order reminds Asian-Americans of laws against them
P
resident Trump’s controversial immigration order has played out on the national stage with protests, court rulings and now a promise by the president to replace the travel ban. But for Nick Lee, it’s personal -- a painful reminder of his family’s history. Lee’s grandfather was separated for 16 years from his wife and never got to see his first childbefore she died -- all because of the Chinese Exclusion Act, the first major U.S. law restricting who could come into the country. The 1882 law -- followed by other exclusion acts that stayed in force for six decades -- was born amid a wave of fear that Chinese workers who had come during the Gold Rush and helped build the United States’ railroads were competing with other Americans for jobs and lowering wages. In 1868, the U.S. signed a treaty encouraging Chinese migration; 24 years later, the Chinese Exclusion Act turned away immigrants from what was even then the world’s most populous nation. Chinese immigrants in California were instrumental in building the
By: STACY CHEN Feb 18, 2017, 1:50 AM ET
Transcontinental Railroad and shouldered much of the work building the West in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. “They used to say that the Chinese are outsiders, and they couldn’t mix with our society, just like what they’re saying about Muslims now,” said Lee, who works for OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization. Lee said he fears that Trump’s executive actions will separate families in the same way as his. “It’s horrifying,” he said. “There’s no other word for it.”
In 1868, the U.S. signed a treaty encouraging Chinese migration; 24 years later, the Chinese Exclusion Act turned away immigrants from what was even then the world’s most populous nation. Chinese immigrants in California were instrumental in building the Transcontinental Railroad and shouldered much of the work building the West in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 37
