Paper Sons and the Road to Citizenship, 1882- 1965

Casa Grande Main Library

Come to the Arizona Humanities presentation on the history of Chinese immigration into U.S. told from stories revealed by Tucson's Chinese Community.

A “paper son” is a term used for young Chinese immigrants coming to the United States prior to 1943 who claimed to be a son of a citizen but were, in fact, sons on paper only. In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed to curb Chinese immigration to the U.S. The passage of this federal law and many other legislations subsequently ushered in a long period in the U.S. history when the Chinese were systematically and severely restricted from entering the country and excluded from becoming naturalized citizens. To counter these unjust, discriminatory legislations, the Chinese created ingenious ways of bringing in their close kin, clan relatives or even fellow villagers. Using false identities and claiming to be sons of American citizens of Chinese ancestry was one of the most widely adopted immigration strategies. But such processes were long, complex and painful and had enduring negative effects on the lives and psyches of the immigrants involved, as revealed by the stories of the paper sons among the Gin clan in Tucson’s Chinese community.

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