A Missing Paper, a Man Detained at the Wharf
Federal Chinese Exclusion enforcement turned on a residency certificate Yee Wing said he had lost.
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.
A Chinese man named Yee Wing was arrested yesterday at Yesler Wharf as he stepped onto the City of Kingston by Chinese Inspector Schuyler for not having a certificate of residence. He was taken before Judge Hanford and stated, through his attorney, George S. Binns, that he had lost his certificate. United States Attorney Granger read the section of the law which says that a Chinese person shall be detained until a new certificate is procured, and the judge ordered Wing to pay the costs and be placed in the custody of the United States marshal until the law was complied with.
“He had lost his certificate.”
The Chinese Exclusion Act made paperwork a weapon: a missing certificate could mean arrest and detention. The scene at Yesler Wharf is a reminder that immigration enforcement has long depended on documents, and that the burden fell on individuals to prove their right to be here.
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