Japanese Couple Targeted in Federal Immigration Raid
Federal authorities arrest a Japanese immigrant and his wife in Tacoma, alleging he brought her into the country for immoral purposes.
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.
Hamada Ryotaro, a Japanese man 26 years of age, who landed in Seattle from the Japanese liner Tosa Maru, was arrested in Tacoma by Immigration Inspector Fulton and Interpreter Gaffney. Ryotaro's young wife, Minnie Ryotaro, was arrested with him. When the two arrived in Seattle from the Orient, their passports were straight and they were given no trouble by the immigration department. Not long afterwards, however, it was learned that Ryotaro had placed his supposed wife in a house of ill-repute, and he himself had gone to British Columbia. A search of the disorderly houses of Seattle failed to produce the woman, but the immigration officers have been on the lookout for her ever since. Word was recently secured that the woman was in Tacoma, and that Ryotaro had returned from British Columbia and was with her. Last night's raid followed. Ryotaro will be prosecuted for bringing women into the country for immoral purposes. The woman will be deported. They were found in separate rooms at the Globe Hotel. Each disclaimed to know the other. The girl was going under an assumed name, while Ryotaro made a full confession of his connection with the matter. At the same time he tried to bribe the immigration inspectors by the offer of $30 if they would set him free. The money was kept and will be used as evidence against him in a charge of attempting to bribe a federal officer.
“Ryotaro will be prosecuted for bringing women into the country for immoral purposes. The woman will be deported.”
This 1904 report highlights how early 20th-century immigration policy was frequently weaponized through 'moral' policing to control and expel Asian residents. The narrative reflects the period's exclusionary climate, where federal agents monitored private lives under the guise of enforcing Victorian morality.
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