The Trial of a Shadow Marriage
A Chinese man faces a perjury charge in Seattle after a complex legal battle to reclaim his 'wife' from immigration detention.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Lee Fook Bow is in jail in San Francisco, awaiting trial. He is wanted in Seattle on a charge of perjury, alleged to have been committed during a hearing of a habeas corpus case brought by him on behalf of Chummie Yung, who he claimed to be his wife. Chummie Yung, or 'Lee Fook Bow' as her name is on the court records, was one of three Chinese women brought over from China last January. They were landed in Port Townsend, and immediately there was a rush by dealers in that class of womanhood for the pick of the lot. Lee Fook Bow was the successful Chinese and obtained one of the women. The trial regarding Chummie Yung lasted two days, and the writ was finally refused by Judge Hanford. Chummie was returned to the Umatilla steamer. It is only just that the strongest testimony has been that Lee's story of marrying her in San Francisco five years ago was exploded.
“The ease with which Chinese laborers have succeeded in entering the United States in defiance of the Geary exclusion act has caused the treasury department to adopt drastic measures.”
This case highlights the brutal intersection of the Geary Exclusion Act and the vulnerability of immigrant women, where marriage records were weaponized by both the state and private actors. It reflects a dark era of Seattle legal history where basic human rights were treated as obstacles to federal deportation mandates.
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