Staff View
Findings and comment from the investigation that led to Oung's deportation.

Descriptive

Language
LanguageTerm (authority = ISO 639-3:2007); (type = text)
English
Subject
Name (authority = LC-NAF)
NamePart (type = personal)
Oung, Dan You
Note (type = source note)
Oung Dan You (Box 249, Case 47, 329); Chinese exclusion acts case files, 1880-1960; Immigration and Naturalization Service, Record Group 85; National Archives and Records Administration – Northeast Region (New York).
Extension
DescriptiveEvent
Type
Digital exhibition
Label
Chinese Exclusion in New Jersey: Immigration Law in the Past and Present
DateTime (encoding = w3cdtf); (point = start); (qualifier = exact)
2012
AssociatedEntity
Role
Curator
Name
Urban, Andy
AssociatedEntity
Role
Curator
Name
Bugen, Sarah
AssociatedEntity
Role
Curator
Name
Houston, Travis
AssociatedEntity
Role
Curator
Name
Lanz, Hillary
AssociatedEntity
Role
Curator
Name
Pirl, Will
AssociatedObject
Type
Exhibition section
Relationship
Forms part of
Name
Oung Dan You
Detail
The story of Oung Dan You is very different from what modern Americans might consider a typical immigration story. Oung Dan You resided in the United States for 71 years. Oung immigrated to the US in 1870, at a time when the United States was actively encouraging the entry of Chinese immigrants under the 1868 Burlingame Treaty. In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act nullified the treaty. Oung worked in a laundry, and had he attempted to enter the United States after 1882 he would have been excluded as a Chinese laborer by the congressional legislation.

By the 1940s, Oung was living in Dover, New Jersey, a town quite distant from New York and Newark – where sizeable Chinatowns were located – and not a common destination for Chinese immigrants. It is unlikely that in Dover Oung could rely on the comfort and companionship that came with being part of a larger Chinese immigrant community. In the testimony he would provide to immigration officials, Oung stated that he had a wife and son in China. Oung had returned to China in 1880 for roughly 15 months, but this was the only time in his 71 years of United States residence in which he visited his native country. Following the passage of the 1888 Scott Act, Chinese immigrant laborers who left the United States and sought to return were not guaranteed re-admittance in spite of previous residence. In addition, as a laborer Oung was barred from bringing his wife and son to the United States to join him.

Toward the end of his time in the United States, Oung fell into destitution and relied on public assistance for a majority of his income. His landlord let him reside rent-free for a lengthy period of time. Oung had no relatives in the United States to turn to for support. According to his file, Oung voluntarily notified immigration officials about his status as a “public charge,” in order to be designated for deportation. His lack of resources, family, and elderly age made it unlikely he could improve his resources. Oung Dan You was finally ordered to report to Ellis Island on March 12, 1941, for deportation to China via San Francisco. The true significance of the story of Oung Dan You lies in the suffering of a man who came to America, like so many others, in the hope of opportunity. The suffering ultimately drove Oung to volunteer for deportation. The occupation of China by Japan during World War II meant that the land Oung returned to would be a far cry from the China he left more than 70 years prior.

The Great Depression led United States officials to deport nearly one million Mexican and Mexican Americans. The movement began in California under the guise of “repatriation”. Questionable legal tactics and acts of intimidation led some Mexicans, in the country legally, to volunteer for repatriation. Much like Oung, many were returning to a country they had not been in for years. The Great Depression put so many laborers out of work that Mexicans, Mexican Americans, and other Americans scrambled to find jobs alike. Mexicans, much like the Chinese, had now drawn the ire of the United States government. At the heart of the repatriation was the argument that the United States government was clearing out individuals they deemed “public charges” in order to relieve pressures on the system and give jobs to “Americans”. Research showed that Mexicans on public assistance represented a small fraction of the total number and the benefits of deporting so many were grossly overestimated. It is interesting to see how the attention of the United States government – and the idea of who poses a threat – can wander from one group to another.
AssociatedObject
Type
Exhibition caption
Relationship
Forms part of
Name
Findings and comment from the investigation that led to Oung's deportation.
Detail
A list of “findings” from the investigation that led to the deportation of Oung. It is interesting that such a thorough investigation was conducted since Oung volunteered to be deported and was so clearly a “public charge”.
AssociatedObject
Type
Placement in digital exhibition
Relationship
Forms part of
Name
31
TypeOfResource
StillImage
TitleInfo
Title
Findings and comment from the investigation that led to Oung's deportation.
Subject (authority = local)
Topic
Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)
Subject (authority = LCSH)
Topic
Chinese Americans
Subject (authority = LCSH)
Topic
Immigrants
Subject
HierarchicalGeographic
Country
UNITED STATES
State
New Jersey
Genre (authority = AAT)
forms (documents)
Subject (authority = lcsh/lcnaf)
Geographic
United States--Emigration and immigration
PhysicalDescription
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application/pdf
InternetMediaType
image/x-djvu
InternetMediaType
image/jpeg
Name (type = personal)
NamePart (type = family)
Oung
NamePart (type = given)
Dan You
Role
RoleTerm (authority = marcrelator); (type = text)
Associated name
Identifier (type = hdl)
http://hdl.rutgers.edu/1782.1/rucore00000002171.Document.000065155
Identifier (type = doi)
doi:10.7282/T3348J93
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Chinese Exclusion in New Jersey: Immigration Law in the Past and Present
Identifier (type = local)
rucore00000002171
OriginInfo
DateCreated (encoding = w3cdtf); (keyDate = yes); (point = start); (qualifier = approximate)
1917
DateCreated (encoding = w3cdtf); (point = end); (qualifier = approximate)
1960
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Rights

RightsDeclaration (AUTHORITY = RU_Archives); (ID = RU_Archives_v2)
The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code) governs use of this work. You may make use of this resource, with proper attribution, in accordance with U.S. copyright law.
Copyright
Status
Public domain
Availability
Status
Open
Reason
US federal document
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Source

SourceTechnical
SourceType
Text or graphic (paper)
Extent (Unit = page(s))
1
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Technical

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Document
MimeType (TYPE = file)
image/tiff
MimeType (TYPE = container)
application/x-tar
FileSize (UNIT = bytes)
15349760
Checksum (METHOD = SHA1)
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