Was The Asiatic Exclusion League Affecting Native Americans?

Christine Thompson
Professor Vogt
HIST 103
December 7, 2009

The East Indian Presence

The last name Thompson is one of Scottish decent. But the person who owns the name has absolutely nothing to do with the Scottish. This is a common scenario for the many that inhabit the small island of Trinidad and Tobago. Trinidad, where the population of “just over a million people,” as it is colloquially recited, is a large mosaic of different ethnicities from different parts of the world, and immigrants from each ethnicity came many different reasons. These reasons, over time, have come to include slavery, indentured servitude, slave ownership, better lives, private businesses, and eventually leisure. The majority of the Trinidadian population
One of the organizations that proved determined to keep out Indians was the Asiatic Exclusion League. The Asiatic Exclusion League used their influential status to write Congress on several occasions about the “detrimental” effect that they believed Indians had on the American people. These “detrimental” affects included everything from industrial effects to moral effects. The Asiatic Exclusion League worked to its fullest to inhibit success for the “Asiatics” (Asiatics also included the Japanese, Korean, and Filipino people of Eastern Asia) as much as possible in order to ensure their removal and deportation if possible. In 1910, the Asiatic Exclusion League further propelled the removal of Indians by describing the way they live as a disregard for “the decencies of life”.7 In the later months of 1910, the number of Indians admitted into the United States began to decrease and by June 1910, some were turned away and had to find ways around the main ports to get into the country. Indians tried alternate routes through Hawaii, Mexico, and even hiding until they could go unnoticed with those who were not deported.
Though as time went on, some of those who were not deported in 1910, found ways of living in hiding while working at the same time. And quite some time after that, they began to find work more easily in the United States. While still being part of a group plagued by prejudice for a long time, many soon came to accept them and their culture.17 Many decided to move to other states that offered a lot of opportunity like New York, New Jersey, and Illinois. These places offered many job opportunities like factories and other industrial work. New York was also a place where they could settle and await the arrival of their family who might immigrate later. In these places, Indians established small communities where they could all find comfort in one another. Soon these communities became known as “Little Indias,” like on Devon Avenue.18 Today, there are East Indians in all fifty states. But the most populated are still New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Texas, Florida, and of course, California where it all began.19
Today, the East Indian presence in the United States is quite noticeable, but their presence is not enough to say that they have truly influenced the American fabric or the essence of America. They are here, and many know of them, but they and their culture are still seen as significantly different from what many know the average American culture to