The High Stakes of Chinese Exclusion
A man faces four counts of perjury for his attempt to reunite with his wife—a legal battle ground of the Chinese Exclusion Act era.
An indictment against Lee Fook Bow, a Chinese man, for perjury on four counts, was returned by the United States grand jury yesterday. The first count recites that on June 28, 1893, in order to secure the issue of a writ of habeas corpus by Judge Hanford, he swore before Commissioner Emery that a certain Chinese woman, known as Mrs. Lee Fook Bow, was his wife. He is alleged to have sworn that he was a Chinese merchant residing in San Francisco; that Lee Fook Bow was born of Chinese parents in San Francisco twenty-five years ago; and that they were married five years ago. Knowing these statements to be false, he is charged with perjury. The second count recites the story told about the woman having gone to Victoria to see her mother on her deathbed; the refusal to allow her landing in San Francisco; and her eventual deportation proceedings at Port Townsend. Each sworn petition and statement provided in his quest to keep his family together is treated as a separate act of perjury.
“He is alleged to have sworn that he was a Chinese merchant residing in San Francisco.”
This case highlights the weaponization of the legal system, specifically the use of 'perjury' charges to dismantle Chinese immigrant families under the Chinese Exclusion Act. It serves as a reminder of how administrative systems were designed to criminalize the simple act of maintaining kinship.
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