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"Paper son" Chinese immigrant affidavit

2004.91.1

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A reproduction can be purchased.

Titles: "Paper son" Chinese immigrant affidavit (Supplied title)

Description: Falsified document used by a Chinese citizen to immigrate to the United States by claiming he was the brother of a man who was already a U.S. citizen, 1938. The letter size affidavit is stapled to brown construction paper. The carbon typescript reads, in part: "DEPARTMENT OF LABOR / Immigration & Naturalization Service / In the matter of the application for Chin Hong Soon, a citizen, for the admission of his brother, Chin Hong Gee, a citizen, son of Chin Bew (Beu), a native citizen...." with a photograph at left of Chin Hong Gee and a photograph at right of Chin Hong Soon. The affidavit is signed by Chin Hong Soon and signed and sealed by the "Notary Public in and for / the state of Wisconsin, / residing at Milwaukie therein."

Dates

  • Exactly 12/02/1938 (Creation)

Creation

Identifiers

  • Accession Number: 2004.91.1

Notes

  • Paper son or paper daughter are terms referring to people born in China who illegally immigrated to the United States using fraudulent documents stating that they were blood relatives to Chinese Americans who had citizenships in the United States. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which prohibited all immigration of Chinese laborers, was the first law implemented to prevent a specific ethnic group from immigrating to the United States and was a significant factor in the development of the "paper son" phenomenon. The Act was eventually repealed in 1943.

Holding Type: 3D Objects

Quantity: 1 item

Format

  • Content Category: artifacts

Measurements

  • 12 inches height
  • 9 inches width

Subjects

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2004.91.1

Collections items are not for sale.
A reproduction can be purchased.