Five Chinese Immigrants Deported After Violent Arrest
Local marshals transport five men from Whatcom County to Tacoma for forced return to the Orient following an arrest that left one man wounded.
Deputy United States Marshal R. T. Draits, of Fairhaven, and J. E. McGinnis, of Whatcom, arrived in the city last night with five Chinamen, Be Bow, Lun Louie, Ah Ahum, Ke Toy and Ah Hong, who have been ordered deported. The Mongolians were arrested in Whatcom County last fall upon a charge of being illegally in the country, and in resisting arrest one of them was shot in the back. The wounded Chinaman subsequently recovered and, after a trial, the whole batch were ordered deported. The officers will take the prisoners to Tacoma this morning, from which place they will be shipped on the first steamer for the Orient.
“The Mongolians were arrested in Whatcom County last fall upon a charge of being illegally in the country, and in resisting arrest one of them was shot in the back.”
This article highlights the brutal enforcement of the Chinese Exclusion Act in the Pacific Northwest during the 1890s. The casual reporting of a gunshot wound and subsequent deportation underscores the systemic xenophobia that defined civic life in Washington at the time, a sharp contrast to the diverse and vibrant community currently found in the International District.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.