The longest period of internment at Angel Island Immigration Station was almost two years, and it was by a woman who had legitimate claims to be admitted to the United States as the wife of an American citizen. The case of Quok Shee, however, indicates th

The Exclusion Act was too porous for the exclusionists. Chinese nationals continued to enter or reenter the country, filing writs of habeas corpus when they were denied entry and seeking remedies in the courts. Advocates of exclusion, which included the g

At Angel Island, however, it didn’t matter whether an entering Chinese was legitimate or illegal. All were subjected to fierce and ongoing interrogation. Living conditions at the detention center were deplorable: Immigrants were herded into confined space

Plague and quarantine In 1894, a bubonic plague broke out in China, claiming many lives. In 1899, plagued turned up in Honolulu. Local officials there were so alarmed they burned down part of that city’s Chinatown. Meanwhile, worry grew on the mainland, b