Chasing the Chinese Exclusion Act
Federal inspectors struggle to intercept Chinese immigrants who bypass Seattle in favor of Portland to avoid tighter maritime surveillance.
The story, cleaned up
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Collector Watson’s representatives in Victoria report that the bulk of Chinese immigrants in British Columbia are attempting to land in the Columbia River district. While a few are still smuggled across to the Sound, those passing through Seattle, Tacoma, or Port Townsend are frequently intercepted and arrested. Chinese Inspector Coblentz has been scouring the lower Sound, recently raiding Seattle's Chinatown to round up immigrants who had arrived without legal authorization. The inspector also traveled to Victoria to investigate passengers on the incoming steamers Manchu and Haytien Republic.
“In passing through Seattle, Tacoma or Port Townsend they are invariably intercepted and arrested.”
This report details the brutal machinery of the Chinese Exclusion Act in the Pacific Northwest. It serves as a reminder of the systematic state violence used to police and deport Chinese residents, a history of exclusion that deeply shaped the demographics and labor markets of 19th-century Seattle.
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