Wong Kim Ark vs the United States 

Though the United States represents itself as a country of immigrants, difference has historically been used to prevent populations of immigrants from being considered American citizens. The American relationship to immigration began when colonizers came into an already inhabited land and claimed it as their own. The legacy of imperialism continued into the exclusion of people who weren’t English protestants. Racism is the dominant form of subordinate groups being created in the process of immigration. Chinese Americans have faced racial discrimination based on the assumption that they won’t be able to assimilate into American society. Differences in religion and government systems were justifications used to explain that Chinese Americans would continue to have allegiance to their ancestral country. The Chinese Exclusion Act systemically created the threat of Chinese people being deported from the country. The Supreme Court case of Wong Kim Ark vs the United States recognizes birthright citizenship as guaranteed in the Constitution. 

The Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 laid the groundwork for the Wong Kim Ark’s citizenship to be tested. Initially, Chinese immigrants were welcomed into the country because they would do the work that other people didn’t want to do such as working in the mines, railroads, or farming (Abdelfatah). Attitudes toward Chinese workers switched as the result of the financial crisis in the late nineteenth century (Abdelfatah). Chinese people were often employed at cheaper rates than their white counterparts and white people began blaming them for stealing jobs. At the same time that anti-Chinese sentiment was on the rise, the period of post-Reconstruction allowed for racism towards African Americans to grow under Jim Crow laws. In 1968, the Burlingame- Seward Treaty permitted American and Chinese people to easily transition between the two countries, which was designed to encourage trade of goods and services (DeSimone). The idea of moving to the United States was often associated with opportunities for a better life. However, the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act prevented Chinese immigration into the country for ten years and required Chinese Americans to obtain a certificate of identification (DeSimone). This provided an enormous amount of power to government officials in determining whether an individual was an American citizen. This process of profiling Chinese Americans heavily leaned on the side of removing citizenship. Thus, people who were born and built their entire lives in the United States were facing the threat of starting all over again in China. The Chinese Exclusion Act was legally appealed in 1943. Nevertheless, the impact of the Chinese Exclusion Act wasn’t formally remedied until 1965. Again, this win for the immigration rights of Chinese Americans came alongside the growing Civil Rights movement for African Americans. 

The Supreme Court case of Wong Kim Ark tested the right of naturalization or being granted automatic citizenship if born in the United States. In 1870, Ark was born in his San Francisco home because Chinese women weren’t admitted into hospitals (Frost, 39). In the same year, the census recorded 63,254 people of Chinese ethnicity and only 518 of them were born in the United States (Frost, 39). Immigration to the United States from China was relatively new, which meant that naturalization would only apply to a small percentage of Chinese Americans. There were two events in San Francisco that sparked his parents returning to China. In 1871, a mob of hundreds of white nationalists came into Chinatown and killed eighteen people (Frost, 44). A second event of terrorism in 1877 led to the Wong family leaving the United States, in which another large mob stormed the small section of the city setting buildings on fire (Frost, 45). After living in China for some time, he settled in the United States where he worked in a kitchen and raised all of his children. Ark had made periodic trips to China throughout his lifetime to visit family without any issue. In response to the increasing requirements to prove American citizenship for people who weren’t white, before the trip he applied for a certificate of identification and got three white citizens to prove his birthright (Abdelfattah). Upon his arrival in a San Francisco port, he was prevented from entering back into the country on the basis that his parents weren’t born in the United States, which meant being stuck on a steamboat for months (Abdelfattah). Consequently, bringing forward the case of Wong Kim Ark versus the United States; a decision that questioned the right of people born in this country to have citizenship. In 1895, his case was won at the state level granting that he’s a citizen and his detention on the boat was an illegal infringement on his rights (Abdelfatah). However, the government appeals the decision and brings the case to the Supreme Court (Abdelfatah). The Supreme Court decision ruled in favor of Wong Kim Ark being granted citizenship with a six to two majority and one justice not weighing in (National Constitution Center). Throughout the case, there was the overarching sense that the decision would be important not just for people of Chinese descent but also, for white people whose parents weren’t born in the country. The opinions primarily focused on the language of the 14th Amendment, which states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside” (National Constitution Center). The justification for the majority opinion written by Horace Gray was that the case would set a precedent for two classifications of exclusions, which were children of enemies to the state or children of representatives of another country (National Constitution Center). Though the decision of justices to uphold his right to citizenship was significant, they also did so with the interests of protecting white people born of immigrant parents. Despite famously winning his case in front of the Supreme Court, Ark was detained only a few years later while crossing the Mexico border into El Paso, Texas (Moore). He was granted freedom after being bailed for 300 dollars or 10,000 today, which was provided by the Chinese Six Companies (Moore). 

During the implementation of the Chinese Exclusion Act, wealthy Chinese Americans were positioned at the intersection of economic and political power in relation to poor immigrants. Simultaneously, the richest Chinese Americans understood the experience of social exclusion from a country dominated by white systems. Initially, the immigration of Chinese workers was encouraged to build the infrastructure of the country, such as railroads to the west. Though they became a group to villainize when working class white men weren’t doing well. Despite Chinese people facing poorer working conditions and inequitable pay. The Chinese Exclusion Act only allowed for merchants, students, and diplomats to enter into the United States (NY Historical Society). Though much of the immigrant population was poor, wealth was an access point to citizenship for Chinese people both individually and collectively. The Chinese Six Companies were an organization of the most influential businessmen in Chinatown, San Francisco. The group acted as a sort of government within the section of the city and would represent the people to the city of San Francisco, state of California, and eventually the United States (PBS). Ark wouldn’t have been successful without the support of the Chinese Six Companies. After being stuck on the steamboat for four months, he was eventually released because the organization paid his 250 dollar bail, which is equivalent to 8,000 dollars today (Koh). Then, they hired legal representation for the court case including Maxwell Evarts and Jay Hubley Ashton (Abdelfatah). The two attorneys both had experience working with the national government and the latter had served under Lincoln (Abdelfatah). The necessity of the private investors for him to have legal counsel demonstrates the inadequacy of immigration law in the United States. Wherein, people are too often forced to give up on their hope of citizenship because they don’t have the resources to navigate the legal system. In 1900, the Chinese Six Companies took on another important case  representing Chinatown against the San Francisco Board of Health (PBS). The city government drew a line on a map with the plan of building an eight foot tall wall separating the white and Chinese sections, which meant elaborate designs to keep white homes outside of the wall (PBS). Overall the segregation and violence that Chinese people faced in San Francisco was blatantly encouraged by anti-Chinese sentiment in the government. 

A legacy of Chinese American exclusion continues to exist in the country today. The United States is living through a time where much of the population either doesn’t have jobs or their jobs don’t pay enough to keep up with the rising costs of living. Today, a group commonly marginalized by negative attitudes towards immigration are Mexicans, who are especially targeted by the population of white, working class, rural, and uneducated Americans.  Similar to Chinese immigrants in the late nineteenth century, economic hardship and racism have created a situation of Mexicans being blamed for stealing jobs. Additionally, despite naturalization being stated in the 14th Amendment and confirmed through the trial of Wong Kim Ark vs the United States, there are still politicians attempting to take the right away. During Trump’s presidency he proposed a bill to strip birthright naturalization for people born of immigrant parents. Through the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, there was a plan to invest 200 million dollars in denaturalizing up to 700,000 citizens (ACLU).  As Americans often look to the past for historical justifications of reckoning with the issues of today, it’s important to recognize when the fight has already been established in an optimistic direction. The right to birthright citizenship is ingrained in the American Constitution and countless people who lost their civil liberties fought for this right; the citizenship of people born in this country shouldn’t still be a question on the basis of any difference. 

Bibliography: 

Abdelfatah, R., Arablouei, R., Cane, J., Miner, C., Wu, L., & Steinberg, A. (n.d.). By 

Accident of Birth. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2023/08/21/1195066446/by-accident-of-birth-2022

Corps , F. T. (2022, June 27). Blood power: US v. Wong Kim Ark and the theo-logic of belonging. Political Theory . https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1462317X.2022.2090817  

DeSimone, B. (2022, May 13). The Chinese Exclusion Act, part 1 – the history: In Custodia legis. The Library of Congress. https://blogs.loc.gov/law/2022/05/the-chinese-exclusion-act-part-1-the-history/#:~:text=As%20early%20as%201858%2C%20California,inconvenience%20or%20humiliate%20were%20not  

Frost, A. (n.d.). “Byaccidentofbirth”: Thebattleoverbirthrightcitizenship ... Yale University . https://openyls.law.yale.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.13051/7583/3_By_Accident_of_Birth_Frost_YJLH_32_1.pdf?sequence=2   

Koh, J. L. (2022). Race, immigration law, and christianity: Reflections and tensions raised by United States v. Wong Kim Ark. Political Theology, 23(5), 471–481. https://doi.org/10.1080/1462317x.2022.2090818 

Moore, R. (2022, July 7). He won a landmark citizenship case at the US Supreme Court. El Paso tried to deport him anyway. El Paso Matters. https://elpasomatters.org/2022/07/04/wong-kim-ark-vs-united-states-history-immigration-supreme-court/  

 Public Broadcasting Service. (n.d.). Chinese Six Companies . PBS. Retrieved November 15, 2023, from https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/plague-golden-gate-chinese-six-companies/.  

United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898). National Constitution Center – constitutioncenter.org. (n.d.). https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/supreme-court-case-library/united-states-v-wong-kim-ark-1898#:~:text=In%20a%206%2Dto%2D2,made%20him%20a%20U.S.%20citizen.  

YouTube. (2020). Chinese-American: Inclusion and Exclusion, Paper Sons and Daughters . YouTube. Retrieved November 15, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yzU_34oY8k.