Letter from New York Customs Collector George R. Bidwell Regarding a Chinese Servant Staying in New York Under Bond and Related Correspondence
9/13/1901
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In this letter, George R. Bidwell relayed a request for A. Gordon, who lived in Hong Kong and sought to pay bond to bring his Chinese female servant with his family as they traveled through the United States.
In 1900 the Office of the Superintendent of Immigration, which had been established in the Department of the Treasury in 1891, became the chief agency responsible for implementing Federal regulations mandated by the Chinese exclusion laws. Both the Chinese Bureau within the Customs Service and the Chinese Division of the INS employed "Chinese" inspectors, people designated to enforce the Chinese exclusion laws. Immigration-related decisions made by these Federal officials were sometimes appealed to Federal courts, which also heard criminal cases involving Chinese alleged to be living in the United States illegally.
This document is featured in "The Chinese Exclusion Act: Researching in the National Archives," available on iBooks. Show/Hide TranscriptTranscript
Hon. Collector of Customs Port of New York
Sir:
Permission is respectfully requested for any concessions that may be tended to Mr. A.G. Gordon and family and one Chinese female servant, who are due to arrive on the S/S “Servia” Sept. 25th.
Mr. Gordon and family reside in Hong Kong and will make a tour of the United States on their way home from Liverpool. It is necessary to give a $500- bond, thirty days, which binds the principals and surety to show evidence of the deportation of such Chinese female servant.
In lieu of the above we would ask that Mr. Gordon be allowed to make a reasonable stay in new York without the necessity of an officer accompanying his servant as is required by this bond, and also any further courtesies that could under the prevailing circumstances be extended to him.
Respectfully,
Messrs. John D. Gluck & Son,
#16 Beaver St.
New York, N.Y.
Sir:
I have to inform you that the Commissioner-General of Immigration has refused to grant your request relative to the Chinese female servant of Mr. Gordon, expected to arrive at this port.
Respectfully yours
Acting Deputy Collector
43This primary source comes from the Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Full Citation: Letter from New York Customs Collector George R. Bidwell Regarding a Chinese Servant Staying in New York Under Bond and Related Correspondence; 9/13/1901; Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Record Group 85. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/letter-from-new-york-customs-collector-george-r-bidwell-regarding-a-chinese-servant-staying-in-new-york-under-bond-and-related-correspondence, April 30, 2024]