Category Archives: Immigration Act of 1924

Ng Back Ging – Part 2 – Complications because of the Immigration Act of 1924

Chinese General Order No. 13, Immigration Act of 1924, photo, Precis of Investigation, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

See September 2024’s blog entry for the details of Ng Back Ging’s file up to his admittance to the U.S. in 1926.

In 1929 Ng Back Ging wanted to make a trip to China. The Immigration Act of 1924 made it more complicated to get approval for his trip. The 1924 Act prevented immigration from Asia except under certain circumstances. It capped total immigration to 165,000 and set the nationality quotas to 2% based on the 1890 census

The First Supplement to Chinese General Order No. 13 fixed this problem. It said that if the husband or father who was admitted before July 1, 1924, has maintained his status as a merchant, the wives and minor children admitted after June 30, 1924, would be lawfully admitted to the United States.

“H. E. Hull Correspondence #55476/519,” 20 November 1929, “The First Supplement to Chinese General Order No. 13,” Ng Back Ging, Chinese Exclusion Act case files, Record Group 85, NARA-Seattle, Box 837, file 7031/120. 

The Immigration Act of 1924 as it relates to Ng Buck Look and his son Ng Back Ging:
1. Ng Buck Look, a merchant, was the father of Ng Back Ging. Ng Buck Look was lawfully admitted to the United States prior to 1 July 1924.
2. Ng Buck Look, the father, maintained his merchant status.
3. Ng Back Ging, his son, was lawfully admitted after 30 June 1924.

In late December 1929 Ng Back Ging applied for a Predetermination of Status Under General Order No. 13 to make a trip to China. He swore that his American name was Harold Ng and he was not married. He was born on 11 January 1913 in Mun Low village, Sun Woy District. He wanted to get treatment for his leg which was broken in August 1928 and was not healing. Since his arrival in 1926 he attended Pacific College in Seattle. He was asked some of the same questions he was asked during his 1926 interview. His answers were consistent with his earlier testimony. His father was interviewed again and testified that he had worked at Lin Shing Jewelry Store in Vancouver, B.C. for about two years before he came to Seattle. He showed the interviewer his papers from his admittance in 1926.

William Francis Roark and Ralph E. Olsen were interviewed and swore in an affidavit that they had been residents of Seattle for several years and were not Chinese. They knew Ng Buck Look for more than one year and believed that he was a member of the Quong Chong Company in Seattle, and he had not performed any manual labor during that time. Olsen was in the wholesale meat business and Roark was a passenger agent for the Milwaukee Railway. They both stated the Quong Chong Company was not associated with a restaurant, laundry, or gambling house.

Purely G. Hall, examining inspector, visited the company and reviewed three current years of the partnership books and noted that the gross sales for 1929 were over $40,000. He recommended that Ng Back Ging receive his certificate.

Ng Back Ging left for China after in December 1929 and returned to Seattle on 3 November 1930 and was admitted to the United States.

“Ng Back Ging, Precis,” 1930, CEA, RG 85, NARA-Seattle, Ng Bok Ging, Box 837, file 7031/120

For more information on the Immigration Act of 1924, see
Jay D. Green, “Passage of the 1924 Immigration Act,” 23 April 2024

Benjamin Chi’s long fight to stay in the United States

Chinese Passport, Citizenship Act of 1934, Deportation Order, Immigration Act of 1924, photo, Precis of Investigation, Quota, Repeal of Chinese Exclusion Act, Section 6 Student, temporary visa, Temporary visitor, warrant of arrest, , , , , , ,

Chi Benjamin 1941 photo
“Photo of Benjamin Chi, Precis of Investigation,” 1940, Chinese Exclusion Act case files, RG 85, National Archives-Seattle, Chi Po Shen (Benjamin Exner Chi) case file, Seattle Box 365, file #7027/1110.

See blog entry for 3 December 2018 for information on Emily Green Exner Chi and her children Benjamin, Sylvia, and Vernon Chi who arrived at the Port of Seattle on 13 February 1941. Emily, Sylvia and Vernon were admitted as U.S. citizens; Benjamin was not. Benjamin’s case is complicated and this blog entry will explain what happened.

The Citizenship Act of 1934 was signed by President Roosevelt on 24 May 1934. The Act allowed any child born outside the limits of the United States, whose father or mother at the time of the birth was a citizen of the United States, to be a citizen of the United States.1 Benjamin was born in 1933. His siblings were born after 24 May 1934. Their mother was a U.S. citizen and they were all born in China. His siblings were considered U.S. citizen; Benjamin was not.

Benjamin Ch’i or Chi, Chinese name Po-Shen Ch’i, was born in Tientsin, China on 18 June 1933. He was issued Section Six Certificate #901 on 5 December 1940 by the Bureau of Police at Tientsin where he was attending Chiu Chen Primary School. When he entered the U.S. at Seattle in February 1941 he was classified as a temporary visitor under Section 3(2) of the Immigration Act of 1924.

Benjamin’s temporary visa was renewed several times. If his visa could not be renewed he could be deported. His mother and younger brother and sister were considered U.S. citizen and wanted to stay in the U.S. because of distressing conditions in China [World War II]. Benjamin was 12 years old; he could not be sent back to China on his own. If he was deported his mother and siblings would need to leave too.

In February 1946, Benjamin’s mother wrote to Immigration. She was trying, once again, to renew her son’s temporary visa. In December she had sent his Chinese passport to the Consulate in China to renew it. Three months later she still had not received the renewed passport and now she did not have the necessary papers to renewal his U.S. temporary visa.

Although the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed in 1943, there was now an extremely restrictive quota—only 105 Chinese were allowed into the U.S. Letters between Mrs. Chi and Immigration went back and forth and a warrant of arrest was issued for twelve-year old Benjamin in May 1946. The deportation order was suspended four months later. In February 1947 the Central Office of Immigration informed the Seattle office that the alien was no longer a quota immigrant chargeable to the quota of China. Benjamin Chi was allowed to stay in the United States. The long struggle was finally over.

1. Orfield, Lester B. (1934)”The Citizenship Act of 1934,” University of Chicago Law Review: Vol. 2 : Iss. 1 , Article 7. http://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/uclrev/vol2/iss1/7

Lim Don Hing – Photos from China

Affidavit, death certificate, detention, discrepancies, family photo, Immigration Act of 1924, , , , , , ,

im Don Hing photo 3 boys
“Photos of Lim Don Hing (center) and his cousins,” ca 1925, Chinese Exclusion Act case files, RG 85, National Archives-Seattle, Lim Don Hing case file, Seattle Box 768, 7030/11375.

Lim Don Hing, a student, was 18 years old when he arrived in Port of Seattle on 22 August 1938 on the S.S. Princess Marguerite. His father, Lim Sin (Thin), had recently died in Detroit, Michigan and Lim Don Hing would be joining his extended family there. He was classified as the son of a citizen. He was originally denied admittance but was approved almost five months later. He was held in detention during that time.

The Immigration Board of Special Inquiry denied Lim Don Hing’s admission to the United States on the grounds that he was not the son of the man claimed to be his father and he was not a member of an exempt class according to the Immigration Act of 1924. The chairman of the board summarized the case and listed the discrepancies between the testimony of the applicant and his cousin, Lim Lin Foon, age 14; and his uncle, Lim Quong, the witnesses. The applicant’s testimony was taken in Seattle and the witnesses’ were interrogated in Detroit. The discrepancies listed were:
1. The location of his house in his village
2. The school he and his cousins attended
3. The space between the ancestral hall school and a vacant house in front of the hall
4. Who lived in the first house, third row of their village
5. If there was a wall on one side of the village
6. Who accompanied his cousin when they left the village for the United States
7. If he ever saw his cousins at Suey Boo market
8. Whether his cousins’ mother had any dental work done
9. If they cleaned the graves of their ancestors when they visited the cemetery in 1938
10. Whether his uncle, Lim Quong, sent money to their house three years earlier
11. Although the applicant and his cousin identified themselves in two photographs, neither knew when the photo was taken [The photo was taken when they were young boys.]
The documents used in his case were the photographs, his father’ death certificate, over forty pages of testimony by the applicant and two witnesses, two Seattle exclusion files, seven San Francisco exclusion files, an affidavit, and the testimony of his attorney, John J. Sullivan.
The case was sent to U.S. Department of Labor, Immigration and Naturalization Service for review. Lim Don Hing’s admittance was approved on 10 January 1939.

“Affidavit Photos of Lim Don Hing and Lim Quong,” 1938
“Affidavit Photos of Lim Don Hing and Lim Quong,” 1938

Lim Don Hing Death Certificate

Lim Don Hing 2 boys
“Affidavit Photos of Lim Don Hing and Lim Quong,” 1938; “Death Certificate for Lim Sin (Thin)” 1938; “Photo of Lim Lin Foon and Lim Don Hing,” ca. 1928; Chinese Exclusion Act case files, RG 85, National Archives-Seattle, Lim Don Hing case file, Seattle Box 768, 7030/11375.