Asian Americans & Citizenship

Proof of citizenship becomes invaluable to Chinese living in California. After the San Francisco Earthquake in 1906, Lee Yoke Suey risks his life to recover his U.S. birth certificate.

Other immigrants find ways to get around the exclusion laws to enter the United States. One is Tung Pok Chin, a Chinese immigrant, poet and laundryman in Brooklyn.

Tung Pok Chin is a U.S. Army veteran. He is also a “paper son” who circumvents the Chinese Exclusion Act by purchasing a “paper name” as the son of a legal citizen.

In 1923, Thind takes his case for citizenship to the U.S. Supreme Court. He argues that, as a high-caste Indian, he should be considered Caucasian and therefore eligible for citizenship.

The Court rules that Thind is indeed Caucasian, but as an Indian he is not white and therefore ineligible for citizenship. With Thind and the case of Japanese immigrant Takao Ozawa the year before, the disenfranchisement of Asian Americans is codified into law.

The children of the revered community leader, Dosan Ahn Chang-Ho, grow up all-American but with pride in their Korean heritage.

They see WWII as a chance to free Korea from Japanese colonial rule.

On December 7, 1941, Japan bombs Pearl Harbor.

Korean American Susan Ahn Cuddy decides to join the fight. She becomes the first Asian American female to enlist in the U.S. Navy.

As the U.S. Navy’s first female gunnery officer, Susan teaches fighter pilots how to fire 50-caliber machine guns and shoot down enemy aircrafts.

Susan proudly serves America, her country of birth and Korea her parents' homeland.

Twenty-three years after South Asians are stripped of their citizenship, an Indian immigrant named Dalip Singh Saund successfully campaigns for the Luce-Cuellar Act of 1946, which grants them naturalization rights.

In 1955 Dalip Singh Saund runs for the U.S. Congress in a predominantly white district in the Imperial Valley of California. He wins, and becomes the first Asian American in Congress.

In 1959 Hawai'i becomes the 50th state of the Union.

Daniel Inouye is a WWII veteran who lost his arm in combat. A Democrat, he wins a seat as Hawaii's first representative in the U.S. Congress.

Republican Hiram Fong of Hawai'i rose from poverty to Harvard Law School and becomes a self-made millionaire. In 1959 he is the first Asian American elected to the U.S. Senate.

In 1964 Democrat Patsy Mink becomes the first woman of color elected to the House of Representatives.

She becomes a lifelong champion of civil rights and women rights.

Mink co-authors the landmark bill Title IX, which mandates equal treatment in education. The legislation is now renamed the Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act in honor of her contributions.

Historian Jane Hong's family story in the U.S. begins with her mother. She immigrates to the U.S. as a nurse, and is then able to sponsor her spouse and siblings.

In 1975, the Vietnam War ends with the fall of Saigon. Viet Thanh Nguyen's family are among the 130,000 Vietnamese refugees who flee to the U.S.

Viet's parents carved out a new life by opening and running their own business in San Jose.

Viet himself is part of a new 1.5. generation - born in Asia but raised in the U.S..

Viet has said "I was born in Vietnam but made in America." He has made sense that experience as a writer. Once a young refugee, he is now a Pulitzer Prize winning author.

The 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act opens the doors to new Asian immigrants. By the early 21st century, 80% of immigrants coming to the U.S. are from Latin America or Asia.

If discovered, Tereza’s parents could be deported to Korea, she may be returned to Brazil, and her U.S.-born brother would be put in foster care.

Tereza grows up to be a talented concert pianist but she lives in fear of applying to college.

Inspired by her story, Senators Dick Durbin and Orrin Hatch co-sponsor the first DREAM Act and Tereza becomes the first “Dreamer.”

With President George Bush ready to sign the legislation, Tereza is scheduled to perform for the U.S. Senate on September 12, 2001.

For Tereza Lee, any hope for pro-immigrant legislation ends on 9/11. But a movement grows, and she remains an active force in fighting for immigrant rights over the next 19 years.