Local Chinese Gardener Targeted for Deportation
Wong Look, a Walla Walla resident of ten years, faces expulsion after being unable to produce his registration certificate.
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.
Wong Look, a Chinese gardener who has been working in and around Walla Walla for several years, was arrested this morning by Chinese Inspector Scott on a charge of being an illegal resident of the United States. When hauled before Court Commissioner Strong, Wong Look declared he had his certificate and attempted to have a fellow-countryman retrieve it, but was unsuccessful. Despite holding a card signed by Inspector Pugh of Spokane indicating he possessed credentials, Wong Look was ordered to be deported to the 'Flowery Kingdom' at government expense. He has resided in the United States for a decade, spending five years in Spokane and the last five in Walla Walla, recently employed on the Baumeister tract.
“Me got certificate. Me all light. Wha' mattah?”
This event captures the reality of the Chinese Exclusion Act era, where residency status was weaponized against individuals who had lived and worked in the community for years. It reflects a period of aggressive surveillance and state-sanctioned displacement that shaped the demographics of the Pacific Northwest.
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