Intercepted at Sea
Ten Chinese individuals, including a man carrying a valid certificate of residence, are being deported under the shadow of the Geary Act.
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.
The steamer Victoria, sailing for China from the Sound on the 29th, will carry ten passengers from here, all of whom are Chinese who are illegally in the United States. Of this number, eight constitute the party captured in the little steamer Fairy of Tacoma. One is a 'floater,' and the last is Ah Chong, who is being sent back in face of the fact that he has a certificate, regularly issued under the requirements of the Geary law, with photograph and all. This the 'powers that be' claim was secured by fraud. The case has served to put Collector Saunders on his guard, and hereafter every certificate will be closely scrutinized.
“Ah Chong, who is being sent back in face of the fact that he has a certificate, regularly issued under the requirements of the Geary law.”
This reporting illustrates the brutal mechanics of the Chinese Exclusion era. It highlights how the state used bureaucratic 'fraud' allegations to invalidate legal documents held by Chinese residents, a systematic effort to strip people of their right to remain in their homes.
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