2009/10/01 by Yukari Takai · 1 citation
Social Sciences · #Asian American and Pacific Histories #Immigration #Citizenship #Political science #Deportation #Law #Order (exchange) #Ticket #Residence #Economic history #History #Sociology #Demography #Politics #Business
paper · doi:10.1093/maghis/23.4.35
openalex publication_date 2009/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
In late March 1908, Japanese migrant Tatsumi Mitsutaro arrived at Blaine, Washington, across the international border from Douglass, British Columbia. Tatsumi told a Canadian immigration inspector at the border that he had entered the United States from Mexico at Eagle Pass, Texas, and that he was travelling north to Vancouver where he intended to catch a steamship back to Japan. His admission to Canada was denied. The grounds for refusal? It was a Canadian Order-in-Council that prohibited immigrants from coming into Canada unless arriving by a continuous journey from the country of their birth or citizenship on tickets purchased before leaving that country. Because Tatsumi did not travel directly from Japan, but arrived in Mexico and then travelled through the United States, he was declared inadmissible and was to be returned to Mexico (1). Without money to afford a railroad ticket back to Mexico, Tatsumi's return trip...