SYMHC Classics: Chae Chan Ping vs. United States

Summary

Stuff You Missed in History Class Episode: SYMHC Classics: Chae Chan Ping vs. United States Release Date: February 8, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of Stuff You Missed in History Class, hosts Tracy V. Wilson and Holly Fry delve deep into the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and its profound legal and societal implications, culminating in the landmark Supreme Court case Chae Chan Ping vs. United States. This episode not only explores the historical context of Chinese immigration to the United States but also examines how these events laid the groundwork for contemporary U.S. immigration law.

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Historical Context: U.S.-China Relations and Early Immigration

Tracy V. Wilson (02:08) begins by outlining the tumultuous relationship between the United States and China in the mid-19th century. Following the First Opium War (1839-1842), the Treaty of Nanjing forced China to cede territory and grant trade concessions to Britain. The United States, eager to secure similar trading rights, negotiated the Treaty of Wanghia (1844), which granted American merchants the right to trade and permitted American citizens to reside in five Chinese ports.

Despite these treaties promoting mutual trade, significant social and economic upheaval in China, including the Taiping Rebellion and subsequent famines and floods, led to increased Chinese emigration. Ruthie Rogers (07:25) emphasizes, "People understandably started immigrating from China to other countries... some were indentured workers or victims of trafficking."

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Chinese Immigration and Labor in the United States

The discovery of gold in California in 1848 and the subsequent Gold Rush created a massive demand for labor. To meet this need, the U.S. began importing Chinese laborers, who played a crucial role in building the transcontinental railroad, making up 80-90% of the workforce on its western segment. Holly Fry (12:06) notes, "Chinese workers were doing critical manual labor... incredibly difficult, unpleasant, and dangerous."

However, the influx of Chinese immigrants sparked resentment among white laborers, especially during economic downturns like the Panic of 1873. Ruthie Rogers (20:26) explains, "Chinese men were described as being useful only for manual labor, while Chinese women were cast as sex workers... they made it impossible for white people to compete."

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Rise of Anti-Chinese Sentiment and Legislation

Anti-Chinese sentiment led to a series of discriminatory laws aimed at restricting Chinese immigration and limiting the rights of those already in the U.S. Key legislative actions included:

• Page Act of 1875: Barred the entry of Chinese women, presuming them to be prostitutes, and subjected them to invasive inspections. Holly Fry (21:55) states, "The Page Act essentially assumed that Asian women immigrating to the US were sex workers."

• California State Constitution of 1879: Specifically targeted Chinese individuals, prohibiting their employment in any capacity and excluding them from public works unless as punishment for a crime.

Despite these local restrictions, the federal government initially maintained a relatively open stance, as evidenced by the Burlingame-Seward Treaty of 1868, which encouraged mutual immigration without restrictions. However, mounting pressure from white communities and economic competitors led to a shift in federal policy.

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The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882

In response to growing anti-Chinese lobbying, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which marked the first significant federal law restricting immigration based on nationality. Tracy V. Wilson (02:08) elaborates:

"The Chinese Exclusion Act was really the first big piece in just a long history of United States immigration laws intended to keep so-called undesirables out of the country and to maintain white racial purity."

Key provisions included:

• Ten-Year Ban: Prohibited Chinese laborers from entering the U.S. for ten years.
• Naturalization Restrictions: Denied Chinese immigrants the right to become U.S. citizens.

The Act was later extended and made permanent through the Geary Act of 1892 and remained in effect until its repeal in 1943 under the Magnuson Act, which allowed a limited number of Chinese immigrants annually but continued to impose severe restrictions.

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Chae Chan Ping vs. United States: The Supreme Court Case

The Supreme Court case Chae Chan Ping vs. United States (41:36) emerged as a pivotal legal battle challenging the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Background of the Case:

• Chae Chan Ping, a Chinese laborer, entered the U.S. legally and obtained a re-entry certificate allowing him to leave and return.
• The Scott Act of 1887, passed while Ping was in transit back to China, invalidated all existing re-entry certificates, including his.
• Upon attempting to re-enter the U.S., Ping was denied entry based on the new law, leading him to challenge the prohibition.

Legal Arguments:

• Ping's Counsel argued that the 14th Amendment protected his right to re-enter the country, framing it as a matter of life, liberty, and property without due process.
• They also contended that the Burlingame Treaty guaranteed mutual unrestricted immigration, which the Scott Act violated.

Supreme Court Decision: The Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision delivered by Justice Stephen J. Field (42:05), upheld the validity of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Key excerpts from the ruling include:

"To preserve its independence and give security against foreign aggression and encroachment is the highest duty of every nation... They [foreigners] will not assimilate with us to be dangerous to its peace and security."

"The power of exclusion of foreigners being an incident of sovereignty... cannot be granted away or restrained on behalf of anyone."

Impact of the Decision:

• Established the Plenary Power Doctrine, affirming that Congress and the Executive Branch hold broad authority over immigration, free from substantial judicial oversight.
• Reinforced the notion that immigration policy is a sovereign right, not subject to anti-discriminatory constitutional constraints.
• The ruling effectively denied Ping's re-entry, symbolizing the legal endorsement of racially discriminatory immigration policies.

Notable Quote: Justice Field's statement (42:39):

"If the government of the United States... considers the presence of foreigners of a different race... to be dangerous to its peace and security... Their exclusion is not to be stayed..."

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Consequences and Legacy

The Chae Chan Ping vs. United States case had lasting ramifications:

• Legal Framework: Cemented the Plenary Power Doctrine, which continues to influence U.S. immigration law by prioritizing legislative and executive discretion over judicial intervention.
• Social Impact: The Act and subsequent rulings fueled anti-Chinese violence and segregation, with events like the Rock Springs Massacre of 1885 showcasing the brutal backlash against Chinese communities.
• Community Response: Chinese immigrants established organizations like the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association to provide legal support and mutual aid, countering systemic discrimination.
• Modern Implications: The precedent set by the Supreme Court has been criticized for enabling ongoing discriminatory practices in immigration policy, with lasting effects on minority communities.

Tracy V. Wilson (43:10) concludes:

"Through these rulings, the Supreme Court took a position that the President and Congress are responsible for immigration law, not the courts, and not without much court oversight."

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Conclusion

This episode of Stuff You Missed in History Class provides a comprehensive exploration of the Chinese Exclusion Act and the pivotal Chae Chan Ping vs. United States case. Through detailed historical analysis and insightful discussions, Tracy and Holly illuminate how these events shaped U.S. immigration policy and entrenched racial discrimination within the legal system—a legacy that continues to influence contemporary debates on immigration and civil rights.

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Notable Quotes:

• Tracy V. Wilson (02:08): "The Chinese Exclusion Act was really the first big piece in just a long history of United States immigration laws intended to keep so-called undesirables out of the country and to maintain white racial purity."
• Justice Stephen J. Field (42:39): "If the government of the United States... considers the presence of foreigners of a different race... to be dangerous to its peace and security... Their exclusion is not to be stayed..."
• Holly Fry (21:55): "The Page Act essentially assumed that Asian women immigrating to the US were sex workers."

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For more detailed discussions and insights, listen to the full episode on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or your preferred podcast platform.

Transcript

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[Maria Tremarke]

Welcome to the Criminalia Podcast. I'm Maria Tremarke.

[Holly Fry]

And I'm Holly Fry. Together we invite you into the dark and winding corridors of historical true crime.

[Maria Tremarke]

Each season we explore a new theme. From poisoners to art thieves, we uncover.

[Holly Fry]

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[Ruthie Rogers]

Hi, this is Ruthie Rogers, host of Ruthie's Table 4. This week my guest is Zoe Saldana.

[Arturo Castro]

And what a woman she is.

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If you passed it. You know what I mean?

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[Ruthie Rogers]

Happy Saturday. Coming up, we have an episode that's related to the Chinese Exclusion act and the history of immigration from China to the United States. We've talked about a lot of the background and context for this before on a number of different episodes in including the one on the US Supreme Court decision in Tsai Chongping versus the United States.

[Holly Fry]

This episode came out on April 19, 2021, and it is today's Saturday classic. Welcome to Stuff youf Missed in History Class, a production of iHeartRadio.

[Ruthie Rogers]

Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson.

[Holly Fry]

And I'm Holly Fry.

[Ruthie Rogers]

We've gotten several requests to do an episode on the Chinese Exclusion act of 1882, and that's something that we've mentioned in I feel like a lot of previous episodes. And it's gotten a longer discussion in some specific episodes like the Delano Grape Strike and Cannery Row and our brief history of foreign foods in the US and then especially our two parter on Executive Order 9066 and the Mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. So the Chinese Exclusion act was really the first big piece in just a long history of United States immigration laws intended to keep so called undesirables out of the country and to maintain white racial purity. It was the United States first major immigration law, and as its name suggests, it specifically targeted people from China. It made it illegal for Chinese laborers to enter the US for 10 years. Then it was extended under the Geary act in 1892 and then made permanent in 1902. It wasn't repealed until 1943. That was under the Magnuson act, although that act also set a quota on Chinese immigration that worked out to a maximum of just about 105 people a year, so not many at all. But the Chinese Exclusion act also had a much broader impact beyond its exclusion of Chinese immigrants and beyond its setting the foundation for later law, laws that targeted other groups when it was challenged before the Supreme Court. The Court's decisions established what's known as the plenary power doctrine for immigration law. Basically, that's the idea that the U.S. government's legislative and executive branches have virtually unlimited authority to regulate immigration without a lot of oversight from the courts, even if those same regulations would be considered discriminatory if they were applied to US Citizens. So today we are going to talk about the Chinese Exclusion Act. We're also going to talk about the Supreme Court case that's most closely associated with all this, and that is Tsai Chan Ping versus the United States.

[Holly Fry]

For the most part, immigration in the US From China started after the end of the First Opium War. Briefly, Britain wanted to import Chinese goods like tea and silk, but China didn't really have a need for Britain's usual exports. So to offset that imbalance, Britain started trading opium from India into southern China. Opium, of course, is a highly addictive narcotic, and although it had been introduced into China before this point, the British opium trade was socially and economically devastating.

[Ruthie Rogers]

The Emperor started issuing edicts against opium in 1729, but Britain kept exporting it into China in defiance of Chinese law. Eventually, China destroyed a shipment of British opium by throwing it into the sea, and Britain retaliated with force. The resulting war lasted from 1839 to 1842, and it ended with the Treaty of Nanjing, which heavily favored British interests.

[Holly Fry]

Although the US had also been involved in the opium trade, it wasn't one of the belligerents in this war, so it was not a party to the Treaty of Nanjing. But the US did want access to the same trading ports and other concessions that Britain had secured through that treaty. So US President John Tyler sent a delegation to China in 1844, and the result was the Treaty of Wanxia, which was described as a treaty of peace, amity and commerce. It called for a perfect, permanent and universal peace and a sincere and cordial amity between the US And China. It was the first diplomatic agreement between the US And China. And although it primarily covered US Trading rights with China, it also established the right for Americans to live in five specific Chinese ports.

[Ruthie Rogers]

The Treaties of Nanjing and Wanxia are two of the unequal treaties that China signed with other nations in the 19th and early 20th centuries. These treaties heavily favored the interests of other nations over those of China. China had strictly limited its trade and its contact with other nations before this point, and so it went through just massive and tumultuous social and economic changes as a result of these treaties and the concessions that they granted to other nations.

[Holly Fry]

On top of that, the Taiping Rebellion was partially fueled by this upheaval and dissatisfaction over these new foreign influences in China. It started in 1850 and led to the deaths of more than 20 million people. Then unresolved issues from the First Opium War fed into the Second Opium War that started in 1856. There were massive floods and famines in China in the mid 19th century as well.

[Ruthie Rogers]

In the wake of all this violence and chaos and destruction, people understandably started immigrating from China to other countries. And while some people were able to pay their own way, others were essentially indentured workers, or in some cases, were the victims of trafficking.

[Holly Fry]

During these same years, the United States needed a new source for laborers, especially in California. The US Took possession of nearly all of what is now California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico after the end of the Mexican American War in 1848. That same year, the discovery of gold launched the California Gold Rush. So the US Needed people to farm this newly acquired Land to mine gold, to build infrastructure. Just on and on. They needed people.

[Ruthie Rogers]

Yeah. And just from a practical but also unpleasant level, people were going to have to come from somewhere else. The indigenous population of California is estimated to have been at about 150,000 people at the end of the Mexican American War. And they faced disease, the loss of land, and genocide at the hands of white settlers and the California government over the following decades. And although some newcomers to California did bring their enslaved workforces with them, when California was admitted to the Union in 1850, it was as a free state. So the United States was just needing to bring in workers from some other source.

[Holly Fry]

One of the people proposing that these new laborers come from China was Aaron Haight Palmer. His memoir, Geographical, Political and Commercial on the Present State Productive Resources and Capabilities for Commerce of Siberia, Manchuria and the Asiatic Islands of the Northern Pacific Ocean, and on the Importance of Opening Commercial intercourse with those countries. We love a long title. That book was addressed to President James k. Polk in 1848.

[Ruthie Rogers]

In addition to summarizing the present state productive resources and capabilities for commerce of several comparatively unknown countries in the east, the eighth chapter of this work was titled Policy of Encouraging Immigration of Chinese Agricultural Laborers to California Semicolon Railroad from the Mississippi to the Bay of San Francisco. This chapter began with the view of bringing the fertile lands in California under early cultivation. I would suggest the policy of encouraging immigration of agricultural laborers from China to that territory. No people in all the east are so well adapted for clearing wild lands and raising every species of agricultural product, especially rice, cotton, tobacco, sugar and silk, as the Chinese.

[Holly Fry]

Palmer goes on to describe how a colony of Chinese laborers in California would also bring in trade from China and from other parts of Asia. He also advocates the construction of a railroad connecting the Mississippi river to San Francisco which would connect the eastern US to the west coast for trade with Asia. The United States would undertake such a railroad under the Pacific Railway act, which was signed into law in 1862.

[Ruthie Rogers]

As a side note here, Palmer would also go on to draft such documents as Plan for Opening Japan, which formed the foundation for Commodore Matthew Perry's voyage to open Japan to Western trade by force. Palmer petitioned Congress for compensation and recognition for his work. He was apparently very annoyed that he had not been recognized or paid for all of this. That led to an act for the Relief of Aaron H. Palmer in 1861, and under that act he was paid 3,000 doll.

[Holly Fry]

In the wake of all this, the number of Chinese people living in the US rose dramatically. In 1840 there were four people of Chinese origin known to be living in the United States. In 1850, there were just over 4,000, but by 1860, that number had grown to almost 35,000. That's a big number, and it sounds like a huge increase. And it is. But it's still tiny compared to the total US population of 31 million people at the time.

[Ruthie Rogers]

So at the national level, looking at things from the federal government's perspective, these were desperately needed, relatively inexpensive workers who were doing critical manual labor. Some of that labor was incredibly difficult, unpleasant, and dangerous. That was especially true as Chinese workers started building the transcontinental railroad. They made up between 80 and 90% of the workforce on the railroad's western portion.

[Holly Fry]

But locally, white people in the Western U.S. especially in California, saw Chinese immigrants as a threat. This was especially true during the Gold Rush, as white miners tried to exclude Chinese people from mining camps and prevent Chinese people from staking claims. Basically, as soon as Chinese immigrants started branching out beyond doing manual labor, white people resisted.

[Ruthie Rogers]

We will get into more about that after a quick sponsor break.

[Maria Tremarke]

Welcome to the Criminalia podcast. I'm Maria Tremarke.

[Holly Fry]

And I'm Holly Fry. Together we invite you into the dark and winding corridors of historical true crime.

[Maria Tremarke]

Each season we explore a new theme, everything from poisoners and pirates to art thieves and snake oil products and those who made and sold them.

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[Holly Fry]

And be sure to tune in at the end of each episode as we indulge in custom made cocktails and mocktails inspired by the stories. There's one for every story we tell.

[Maria Tremarke]

Listen to criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Osvar Loschen]

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[Ruthie Rogers]

During the 1850s and 60s the state of California started really trying to discourage immigration from China and to place restrictions on Chinese people who were already in the state. In 1854, the California Supreme Court issued its decision in People vs Hall, which ruled that Chinese people could not testify against white people in court. The language of the court's ruling was explicitly racist, including describing Chinese people as inferior. In 1858, California passed a law that barred Chinese and Mongolian people from entering the state. More generally, there were also just the same kinds of discriminatory segregation laws that we've seen in other contexts and laws that were just applied only to the Chinese population and not to everyone else.

[Holly Fry]

At the same time, the United States was signing new treaties with China. In 1858, the US and China signed the Treaty of Tianjin, which supplemented and revised the Treaty of Wanxia. The Treaty of Tianjin again emphasized this idea of establishing a firm, lasting and sincere friendship between the two nations.

[Ruthie Rogers]

The Treaties of Tianjin and Wanxia both outlined various rights and protections for American citizens who were living in China, but they didn't really do the same for Chinese citizens who were living in the United States or really mention Chinese immigration to the US at all. That changed with the Burlingame Seward Treaty of 1868 that was named for U.S. minister to China Anson Burlingame, who had started working directly for the Chinese government, and for Secretary of State William Seward.

[Holly Fry]

In addition to again reiterating and expanding American trading rights with China, this treaty also specified that both Chinese and American citizens had a, quote, inherent and unalienable right to change their home and allegiance. In other words, Americans could immigrate to China and Chinese people could immigrate to the US without restriction. @ the same time, nothing herein contained shall be held to confer naturalization upon citizens of the US In China, nor upon the subjects of China in the United States. US Citizens could also enjoy all the privileges of a public education under control of the Chinese government, and Chinese citizens could do the Same in the U.S. chinese and American citizens were each allowed to establish their own schools in the other country as well.

[Ruthie Rogers]

But even as the federal government was establishing this pretty unrestricted right to immigrate between China and the United States, discrimination against Chinese people already in the United States was really increasing. The same types of racist stereotyping that had been used to justify slavery was used to justify discrimination and violence against Chinese immigrants. Chinese men were described as being useful only for manual labor, while Chinese women were cast as sex workers. Compounding all of this were perceptions that Chinese people would work for such low wages that they made it impossible for white people to compete. Employers also started bringing in Chinese workers to break strikes, and that drew the ire of the workers they were replacing and the unions that represented them.

[Holly Fry]

And the language used to describe Chinese workers often carried a connotation of damage and destruction. These immigrants were described as an invasion or a flood or a deluge, or even a plague of locusts. The idea was that once the railroad was finished or the mine was played out, or the crop was brought in, then these workers would swarm into another area and destroy everything in their path. This was worsened by The Panic of 1873, which kicked off a financial depression and also led to increased competition for fewer and fewer jobs.

[Ruthie Rogers]

White communities and business leaders along the west coast, especially in California, started pressing the federal government to take action against this supposed Chinese threat. In 1875, less than a decade after signing the Burlingame Treaty, the federal government responded to this with the Page Act.

[Holly Fry]

The page act barred U.S. citizens from bringing, quote, any subject of China, Japan, or any oriental country into the US without their free and voluntary consent. In other words, it banned Americans from bringing indentured or otherwise unfree workers to the US from these countries. Section 3 of the page act also began, quote, the importation into the United States of women for the purposes of prostitution is hereby forbidden. And it empowered port collectors to inspect vessels and their passengers to confirm that this law was being followed.

[Ruthie Rogers]

The Page act essentially assumed that Asian women immigrating to the US were sex workers. And it subjected them to degrading and humiliating exams and interrogations upon arrival. Before this point, Chinese immigrants to the US had been predominantly male, since so many were being contracted to work as manual laborers. But the Page act became an even bigger deterrent for women, and it reinforced stereotypes that connected Asian women to sex work. Combined with a rise in anti miscegenation laws which made it illegal for people of different races to marry, this meant that the vast majority of Chinese people in the US Were single men or men whose families were back in China. It was basically a deterrent to forming actual families and communities here in the US we talked about some similar stuff in our Delano Grape strike episode with Filipino workers who were not permitted to have wives or to bring their wives from the Philippines.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah, 1875 was also the year that Cai Chan Ping arrived in the US to work. And he worked in the United States for the next 12 years. And during those years, the US continued to pass new restrictions on immigration from China and other parts of Asia and on Chinese immigrants already in the country. California adopted a new State Constitution in 1879 which included Article 19. It was simply called Chinese. Section 2 of this article began, quote, no corporation now existing or hereafter formed under the laws of this state shall, after the adoption of this constitution, employ directly or indirectly in any capacity, any Chinese or Mongolian. Section 3 reads in its entirety, quote, no Chinese shall be employed on any state, county, municipal or other public work, except in punishment for crime.

[Ruthie Rogers]

Also in 1879, the U.S. senate and House passed a bill that mandated that ships arriving in the United States could carry no more than 15 Chinese workers. President Rutherford B. Hayes vetoed this bill because it conflicted with the treaties in place with China, including the Burlingame Treaty. But then to address that, he sent a commission to China headed by diplomat James angel, to negotiate a new treaty. And the result of that negotiation was the angel treaty, signed in 1880.

[Holly Fry]

The Angel Treaty was written to apply only to laborers, although the definition of laborer expanded over time. It read in part, quote, whenever, in the opinion of the government of the United States, the coming of Chinese laborers to the United States or their residence therein affects or threatens to affect the interests of that country or to endanger the good order of the said country or of any locality within the territory thereof, the government of China agrees that the government of the United States may regulate, limit, or suspend such coming or residence, but may not absolutely prohibit it.

[Ruthie Rogers]

This treaty's second article declared that, quote, chinese subjects, whether proceeding to the United States as teachers, students, merchants, or from curiosity, together with their body and household servants, and Chinese laborers who are now in the United States, shall be allowed to go and come of their own free will and accord, and shall be accorded all the rights, privileges, immunities and exemptions which are accorded to the citizens and subjects of the most favored nation.

[Holly Fry]

However, just two years after signing the Angel Treaty, the United States passed the Chinese Exclusion act, or as it was formally known, an act to execute certain treaty stipulations relating to Chinese. It banned Chinese laborers from coming to the US for 10 years. And it defined laborers as, quote, both skilled and unskilled laborers and Chinese employed in mining. And it also included this clause. No state court or court of the United States shall admit Chinese to citizenship.

[Ruthie Rogers]

Now, you could make the argument that because this applied only to laborers, it was not absolutely prohibiting people from coming from China to the United States, which is like the Angel Treaty had said, that the US could limit but not absolutely prohibit. That's still kind of like, well, technically level of argument. This act did not apply to Chinese people who were already in the US before the Angel Treaty was signed, or to people who arrived within 90 days of the passage of the Exclusion act, at least in terms of the ability to come and go. The the fact that they then could not become citizens, that applied to everyone. And this established a process to take place at American ports which would document the right of these people who you know, were exempt under this part of the treaty to come and go. The customs collector would document all Chinese passengers on departing vessels. And then these passengers were entitled to receive a certificate that would quote, entitle the Chinese laborer to whom the same is issued to return to and re enter the United States upon producing and delivering the same to the collector of Customs of the district at which such Chinese laborer shall seek to re enter. So basically, if you were already here, you were supposed to be able to come and go. You could return to China or go somewhere else and then come back in the United States.

[Holly Fry]

In practice, this act banned virtually all immigration to the US From China. And it also sparked a massive amount of horrific anti Chinese violence in the US There had been mass anti Chinese violence before this point. As one example, on October 24, 1871, a white man was killed during a shootout involving several Chinese men. And in retaliation, a white mob attacked the Chinese community of Los Angeles, lynching at least 17 people. But after the Exclusion act was passed, white communities on the west coast felt empowered to purge their Chinese populations and they subjected Chinese neighborhoods to riots and other mass violence.

[Ruthie Rogers]

Multiple cities and towns expelled their entire Chinese population, including Tacoma, Washington, which force marched its remaining Chinese residents out of town. On November 3, 1885, at least 28 Chinese men were massacred in Rock Springs, Wyoming on September 30 of 1885. This whole period came to be known as the driving out. And it really had a lot of similarities to the mass violence against black communities that we've talked about in previous episodes, including our episode on the red summer of 1919.

[Holly Fry]

There was a widespread perception outside of the Chinese community that Chinese immigrants were ignorant and illiterate. But really, the Chinese immigrant community in the US Was deeply interconnected, organized and legally very savvy. Chinese benevolent and mutual aid associations had started to form in the US Almost as soon as Chinese immigrants had started arriving. In 1882, the six most powerful formed the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent association, also known as the Chinese Six Companies. Its leadership included Chinese merchants and other wealthy and prominent people, and it kept attorneys on retainer to deal with legal issues that involved Chinese immigrants. So did the Chinese consulate.

[Ruthie Rogers]

This led to a huge number of court cases as people started arriving from China into the United States without that certificate that was described under the Chinese Exclusion act that would guarantee them the right to return. In some cases, this was because they were really new arrivals. They hadn't been in the United States before. But there were plenty of reasons that people might really be returning to the US Having left previously, but without the right paperwork to prove that they had previously been in the country, they could have left the United States before the Exclusion act was passed, at which point no such certificates were being issued, or they just might not have been issued one. The act said that they were entitled to it, not that they were guaranteed to receive it.

[Holly Fry]

This caused problems at the ports as officials had to work out whether people really were legally allowed to enter the U.S. these cases often wound up in court. The Collector of the Port of San Francisco claimed that of the more than 2600 Chinese people allowed into the US in the first 14 months after the act was signed, more than a third of them had come through the courts without a re entry certificate.

[Ruthie Rogers]

This was a big deal. On January 26, 1884, Judge Ogden Hoffman of the U.S. district Court for the Northern District of California included this statement in his ruling on one of these cases. Quote, if the Chinese immigrants come in the future in anything like the number in which they have recently arrived, it will be impossible for the courts to fulfill their ordinary functions. There remain on the calendar of the District Court, I am informed, 190 cases for five or six weeks. Even with night sessions, I have been unable to make any great impression on them. All ordinary business, public and private of the court is necessarily suspended or if resumed, these passengers, many of whom may be entitled to their discharge, are left either in custody or on bail awaiting the determination of their cases. It is therefore an urgent necessity that Congress, by committing that duty to commissioners or by some other mode, should relieve the courts of the burden of passing on these cases.

[Holly Fry]

To close these legal loopholes, on July 3, 1884, the US government broadened the Chinese Exclusion act, making those re entry certificates issued at port the only evidence that could establish a person's right to re enter the United States. But this expansion didn't make any provision for people who had left the US before it was passed. This led to a Supreme Court case involving Chu Hyung, who had left the US for Hawaii in 1881 and had tried to return to the US in 1884. In this case, Hyung was allowed to enter the US because the court found that the law had not intended to strip people of rights they had previously had under the treaty, which included being able to come and go.

[Ruthie Rogers]

Justice Stephen Field, who will come up again, dissented with this ruling, arguing that it was, quote, wholly immaterial to inquire whether by the act assailed it has departed from the treaty or not, or whether such departure was accidental or designed, and if the latter, whether the reasons therefore were good or bad. During the oral arguments, Field had also said, quote, congress never supposed that Chinamen intended to go back to China and stay several years. If they do not come back at once, they should not be allowed to come at all.

[Holly Fry]

We're going to get into Chai Chong Ping's case after we pause for a sponsor break.

[Maria Tremarke]

Welcome to the Criminalia Podcast. I'm Maria Tremarchi.

[Holly Fry]

And I'm Holly Fry. Together we invite you into the dark and winding corridors of historical true crime.

[Maria Tremarke]

Each season we explore a new theme, everything from poisoners and pirates to art thieves and snake oil products and those who made and sold them.

[Holly Fry]

We uncover the stories and secrets of some of history's most compelling criminal figures, including a man who built a submarine as a getaway vehicle. Yep, that's a fact.

[Maria Tremarke]

We also look at what kinds of societal forces were at play at the time of the crime, from legal injustices to the ethics of body snatching, to see what, if anything, might look different through today's perspective.

[Holly Fry]

And be sure to tune in at the end of each episode as we indulge in custom made cocktails and mocktails inspired by the stories. There's one for every story we tell.

[Maria Tremarke]

Listen to criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Osvar Loschen]

Do you want to understand an invisible force that's shaping your life? I'm Osvar Loshen, one of the new hosts of the long running podcast Tech Stuff. I'm slightly skeptical but obsessively intrigued.

[Ruthie Rogers]

And I'm Cara Price, the other new host and I'm ready to adopt early.

[Osvar Loschen]

And often on tech stuff. We travel all the way from the mines of Congo to the surface of Mars to the dark corners of TikTok to ask and attempt to answer burning questions about technology.

[Ruthie Rogers]

One of the kind of tricks for surviving Mars is to live there long enough so that people evolve into Martians.

[Holly Fry]

Like data is a very rough proxy for a complex reality.

[Osvar Loschen]

How is it possible that the world's new energy revolution can be based in this place where there's no electricity at.

[Ruthie Rogers]

Night Oz and I will cut through the noise to bring you the best conversations and deep dives that will help you understand how tech is changing our world and what you need to know to survive the singularity. So join us.

[Osvar Loschen]

Listen to tech stuff on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Arturo Castro]

Hi, I'm Arturo Castro and I've been lucky enough to do stuff like Broad City and Narcos and Roadhouse and so many commercials about back pain. And now I'm starting a podcast because honestly guys, I don't feel the space is crowded enough. Get ready for Greatest Escapes, a new comedy podcast about the wildest true escape stories in history. Each week I'll be sitting down with some of the most hilarious actors and writers and comedians to tell them a buck wild tale from across history and time. People like Ed Helms, Diane Guerrero, Joseph Gordon Levitt and Zoe Chao.

[Ruthie Rogers]

Titanic, Charles Manson, Alcatraz, Assata Shakur, the sketchy guy named Steve.

[Arturo Castro]

It's giving funny true crime.

[Ruthie Rogers]

I love storytelling and I love you.

[Holly Fry]

So I can't wait.

[Arturo Castro]

Listen and subscribe to Greatest escapes on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

I'm Dr. Laurie Santos and to welcome the new year, my podcast, the Happiness Lab is releasing a series of happiness how to guides to help you in 2025. I'll distill the wisdom of world class experts into easy to digest actionable tips.

[Ruthie Rogers]

It's about never feeling good enough.

[Holly Fry]

I feel like I'm always failing.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

You'll learn how to handle relationships, how to be inspiring, and how to find your purpose.

[Ruthie Rogers]

We make it this big pie in the sky thing and then of course.

[Holly Fry]

We'Re all frustrated because no one knows.

[Ruthie Rogers]

How to get there.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Struggling with tough emotions. We have a how to guide. Worried that you're not enough? We got you self obsessed and want to get over yourself. There's a guide for that too.

[Holly Fry]

The ability to approach somebody and make them experience desire for you in minutes or even hours is a rare and rather unnecessary skill.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

Historically Speaking, the Happiness Lab's How to season starts January 1st. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ruthie Rogers]

As we said earlier, traveled into the United States from China in 1887 and he worked in the US for the next 12 years. Beyond that, we don't know a lot about him. I have a lot of unanswered questions specifically about his name. Like I don't know how his name was written in Chinese characters and how that was Romanized, because the Romanization methods that exist today, like, had not really been developed yet when he immigrated. There are just some question marks about how he would have written or said his own name. On June 2, 1887, he set sail for China aboard the steamship Gaelic for a visit. Before the ship left the port, he got the required certificate that would allow him to re enter the United States when he got back. On September 7, 1888, he set sail from Hong Kong aboard the Belgic. That was a British vessel that was under charter to an American company and it was bound for San Francisco. The Supreme Court's decision in his case says that he arrived in San Francisco on October 8, but newspaper reports about the vessel's arrival say that it was on the 7th.

[Holly Fry]

However, on October 1, 1888, while he was still in transit, President Grover Cleveland signed the Scott act into law. And the Scott act barred re entry for Chinese immigrants to the U.S. no matter when they first arrived in or how long they had lived in the country. The US And China had been working on yet another treaty. This time, China had proposed that it curtail immigration to the US with the hopes that it would ultimately protect its citizens who were in the United States. But the resulting treaty banned immigration to the US for 20 years and the return of Chinese workers to the US this led to a huge outcry and China refused to ratify the treaty. So the US acted unilaterally and put the same basic provisions in place with the Scott Act.

[Ruthie Rogers]

Yeah, at this point, China really had no confidence that the United States was willing or able to protect Chinese citizens who were living on American soil. The Scott act made that re entry certificate that Tsai Chomping had obtained before leaving the United States invalid. And he was not at all unique in this situation, even though only a few of these cases made it all the way to the Supreme Court. It's estimated that the Scott act invalidated the re entry permits of as many as 20,000 Chinese people and that as many as 600 of them were in transit to the United States when it was passed. Just in terms of the passengers aboard the Belgic, there were 176 people from China, all of whom were kept there, confined to the ship, under guard by port officials.

[Holly Fry]

Attorneys began filing petitions on behalf of those 176 people, some of them arguing that they had technically been under U.S. jurisdiction before the Scott act was signed. Since the Belgic was operating under an American charter. A petition for Tsai Chan Ping was filed on October 10, and he was issued a writ of habeas corpus.

[Ruthie Rogers]

Hearing was before the Circuit Court of the United States for the Northern District of California, and the judge ruled that his detention aboard the Belgic was legal. Because of the Scott act, he had no legal right to enter the United States anymore. But his attorneys argued that this was in violation of existing treaties between the United States and China, including the Burlingame Treaty.

[Holly Fry]

His appeal went to the Supreme Court where it was argued on March 28th and 29th of 1889. The 14th amendment to the US constitution is worded as applying to persons, not citizens. So a person cannot be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. Cai Chan Ping's attorneys made an argument that his right to re enter the US Was effectively property and that he could not be stripped of it without due process. They also reiterated the idea that his exclusion from the U. S ran against existing treaties with China.

[Ruthie Rogers]

However, the Supreme Court was unanimous in its decision, which was issued on May 13, that Tsai Chanping did not have the right to re enter the United States regardless of what the treaties in place between the US And China actually said. In terms of federal laws and international treaties, the Court ruled that neither of them had automatic precedence over the other, so whichever one was the most recent was the one that applied to the situation.

[Holly Fry]

But the Court also went way beyond answering just this one specific question. Stephen Johnson Field, writing for the majority, wrote, quote, to preserve its independence and give security against foreign aggression and encroachment is the highest duty of every nation, and to attain these ends nearly all other considerations are to be subordinated. It matters not in what form such aggression and encroachment come, whether from the foreign nation acting in its national character or from vast hordes of its people crowding in upon us.

[Ruthie Rogers]

The Court's opinion was also pretty broad in how it approached the idea of race and assimilation. Quote. If, therefore, the government of the United States, through its legislative department, considers the presence of foreigners of a different race in this country who will not assimilate with us to be dangerous to its peace and security. Their exclusion is not to be stayed because at the time there are no actual hostilities with the nation of which the foreigners are subjects.

[Holly Fry]

This opinion also framed restrictions on immigration, even if discriminatory, as a fundamental part of a nation's sovereignty. The power of exclusion of foreigners being an incident of sovereignty belonging to the Government of the United States as a part of those sovereign powers delegated by the Constitution, the right to its exercise at any time when, in the judgment of the government the interests of the country require it cannot be granted away or restrained on behalf of anyone.

[Ruthie Rogers]

Today, Chai Chomping versus the United States is often referred to as the Chinese exclusion case, although sometimes it's also grouped in with three later cases, and they become the Chinese exclusion cases together as a group. And although these decisions have been highly criticized, especially in recent years, they have never been overturned. As we said at the top of the show, together they have formed the foundation for the plenary power doctrine in the context of United States immigration law. Basically, people trying to enter the US Aren't citizens, so constitutional protections against discrimination don't apply to them. And although persons already in the United States are covered under parts of the 14th Amendment, specifically the guarantee of due process, persons not already in the United States really aren't. So through these rulings, the Supreme Court took a position that the President and Congress are responsible for immigration law, not the courts, and not without much court oversight.

[Holly Fry]

As for Chai Chan Ping, we know he was forced to go back to China, but that didn't happen for a few more months. His case had become national news thanks to its potential impact on the Chinese Exclusion Act. And for weeks after the Supreme Court issued its ruling, there were headlines claiming that no one knew where he was. On June 23, one of his attorneys gave a statement to the San Francisco examiner that he would let the federal marshal know when his client was ready to set sail and that it wasn't unusual for it to take up to 30 days for a person to get their affairs in order and be ready.

[Ruthie Rogers]

To leave, even though he was essentially being deported at this point. Like, none of the language around this case is framed as deportation. It's. It's framed as excluding him from entering the US Even though he had been released on bond and was already in the US in August of 1889, his bondsman agreed to bring him to the port to board the Arabic, which was scheduled to depart for China on the 22nd of that month. It seems to have actually set sail a few days after that, according to a write up in the New York Times, which is really insulting in its tone. So I kind of take this with a grain of salt. He refused to pay for his passage because he did not want to leave the United States in the first place.

[Holly Fry]

There were people who came to the US From China while the Chinese Exclusion act was enforced. This was particularly True after the 1906 earthquake and fire destroyed most of San Francisco's public records. So people forged documents to claim that they had been born in the US or that they were related to US Citizens. People who entered the US through this kind of forged paperwork became known as paper sons. So it's possible that Cai Chongping returned to the US but it is assumed that he spent the rest of his life in China.

[Ruthie Rogers]

Yeah, we don't really know a lot about what happened to him after this point. We don't know a lot about him as a person in general, but we do know that his case had just a monumental influence on how the courts have continued to view immigration law in the United States and by extension, like how lawmakers make immigration policy, knowing that the plenary power doctrine is the long standing precedent at this point. Thanks so much for joining us on this Saturday. If you'd like to send us a note, our email address is history [e-mail] and you can subscribe to the show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

[Maria Tremarke]

Welcome to the Criminalia Podcast. I'm Maria Tremarke.

[Holly Fry]

And I'm Holly Fry. Together we invite you into the dark and winding corridors of historical true crime.

[Maria Tremarke]

Each season we explore a new theme, from poisoners to art thieves.

[Holly Fry]

We uncover the secrets of history's most interesting figures, from legal injustices to body.

[Maria Tremarke]

Snatching, and tune in at the end of each episode as we indulge in cocktails and mocktails inspired by each story.

[Holly Fry]

Listen to criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Osvar Loschen]

Do you want to see into the future? Do you want to understand an invisible force that's shaping your life? Do you want to experience the frontier of what makes us human? On tech stuff we travel from the mines of Congo to the surface of Mars, from conversations with Nobel Prize winners to the depths of TikTok to ask burning questions about technology, from high tech to low culture and everywhere in between. Join us Listen to tech stuff on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ruthie Rogers]

Hi, this is Ruthie Rogers, host of Ruthie's Table 4. This week my guest is Zoe Saldana.

[Arturo Castro]

And what a woman she is.

[Maria Tremarke]

I come from a family and I do know this, that it's a cultural thing. We dance. If you failed a test, we danced.

[Ruthie Rogers]

If you passed it.

[Dr. Laurie Santos]

You know what I mean?

[Maria Tremarke]

It's you just dance and you dance merengue and you dance salsa and everybody sits in someone's backyard.

[Arturo Castro]

Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple or wherever you find your podcasts.

[Ruthie Rogers]

Catch Jon Stewart back in action on the Daily show and in your ears with the Daily Show Ears Edition podcast. From his hilarious satirical takes on today's politics and entertainment to the unique voices of correspondents and contributors, it's your perfect companion to stay on top of what's happening now. Plus, you'll get special content just for podcast listeners, like in depth interviews and a roundup of the week's top headlines. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.