Crossing the Golden Gate

How has immigration shaped Bay Area communities?

“It has been centuries since the first wave of immigration broke upon America’s shores. While views on immigration have changed for the better, there is still a long way to go and many things to change for America to be the ‘free country’ immigrants have come here for.”

Jose Antonio Vargas, a Bay Area native, journalist, and activist for immigration, wants us to consider more closely what kind of life immigrants go through, and how they are treated in society. “There are believed to be 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. We’re not always who you think we are. Some pick your strawberries or care for your children. Some are in high school or college. And some, it turns out, write news articles you might read. I grew up here. This is my home. Yet even though I think of myself as an American and consider America my country, my country doesn’t think of me as one of its own.” 

Vargas grew up in Mountain View, California. In sharing his experience, he revealed that he was an undocumented immigrant living in the U.S. illegally for years.

The San Francisco Bay Area is home to more than a million immigrants. It is known for its diverse population and culture, tech innovations, education, and natural beauty. Immigrants are undoubtedly major influencers that have shaped the Bay Area into what it is today.

The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the great landmarks of the Bay Area. Many immigrants who arrived at Angel Island entered San Francisco Bay through the Golden Gate Strait.

Immigration has been a key debate topic in the United States for decades. As a country with immigration history going back to the 1600s, the U.S. is now one of the most racially diverse and multicultural countries in the world, with the San Francisco Bay Area among the regions with the most diverse populations. However, immigration problems remain unsolved and racism occurs frequently even in places that are considered liberal. There are many questions we must ask ourselves: How have we been treating immigrants as a society? What actions are the country’s leaders taking regarding immigration in the United States? What could we do to achieve the “American Dream” where everyone is equal and has freedom? 

For decades, people from all over the world came seeking refuge, jobs, and a new life in the United States. It was a risk for themselves, their children, and their loved ones, but some had no choice but to leave their homes and families behind. Many of them came to face an unfamiliar place with a different language, different people, different cultures, and unfortunately, different social statuses. 

In the early 1900s, society failed to welcome immigrants or treat them with respect. Racism and exclusion were part of what the new immigrants went through every day. Workers were paid less, the children were made fun of at school, and they were verbally and physically abused. The immigration system was unjust and made it difficult for those who sought freedom from wars, colonization, or other issues in their homeland.

This is what Angel Island looks like today. Many immigrants in the early 1900s were detained here until they were admitted.

Many immigrants, especially Asian immigrants, arrived at Angel Island in the San Francisco Bay. It served as an entry point for many immigrants, much like Ellis Island located in New York Harbor. Most entering from Angel Island settled in California, San Francisco being a hotspot for newcomers. Many ethnic organizations, such as the Korean National Association and the Japanese Association of America, were founded there to help immigrants get back on their feet and assimilate.

Angel Island: Immigrant Gateway to America, written by Erika Lee and Judy Yung, tells the stories and history of early 1900s immigration. “Those seeking entry to the United States confronted U.S. immigration policies that treated immigrants differently based on their race, nationality, gender, and class as a way of identifying which ones were fit to enter the country and become Americans and which ones were not.” 

Angel Island was where the lives of many Asian immigrants were decided. They were detained for days, weeks, months, and even years before entering America. Inspectors asked questions about the immigrants’ lives, families, and careers to decide whether they were “fit” to live in America. Some immigrants were admitted without much difficulty, while others were excluded and sent back to their homeland. 

Korean immigrants were among the few who had an easier time passing through Angel Island and finding a new life in America. After Japan annexed Korea in 1910, many Koreans sought refuge in the U.S. 

The American government was more lenient toward Koreans than other Asian groups because they knew of the tragedies that had occurred to them during the Japanese rule. Additionally, since many Koreans came as students, brides, or housewives, it was perceived that they “did not pose a threat to American labor.”

On the other hand, South Asians reportedly had the highest rejection rate on Angel Island. Similar to the Koreans, some South Asians came seeking refuge from British colonization in India. Others came for work and education.

South Asians faced racism and exclusion from the day they stepped foot onto American soil. The officials at Angel Island excluded South Asians, which then influenced debates and support for South Asian exclusion all over America. It was difficult for them to pass Angel Island as they did not have a strong ethnic organization like the Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, and Russians.

Even so, these ethnicities still faced hardship. In Angel Island, Lee and Yung introduce Choi Kyung Sik as one of the 300 Korean students who were able to come to America after the Immigration Act of 1924. He wrote a poem, A Night at the Immigration Station, which expressed his disappointment and unhappiness during his stay at Angel Island. “Even though it’s said America is wonderful, / How pathetic it has made me.” His other poem, Angel Island, was published after. “Angel Island, Angel Island, all the people said, / So I thought it would be like heaven. / Yet when the iron gate locks with a clang- / It feels like hell.”

Vaishno Das Bagai was also introduced in the book as a South Asian immigrant in America during Britain’s rule over India. After losing his U.S. citizenship, he was forced to face California’s alien land laws, which prevented Asian immigrants from owning land or property. In his suicide note to his family and a newspaper, he explained the hurt and betrayal he felt. “I came to America thinking, dreaming and hoping to make this land my home…and tried to give my children the best American education…But now they come and say to me I am no longer an American citizen.”

Both Choi and Bagai imagined America as a place to start a new and free life full of opportunities and good education. After suffering from colonial rule in their homeland, they worked hard to find freedom and a new life in the United States. However, they soon realized that Americans did not accept them and they only became victims of unjust laws, racism, and exclusion.

They were only two of millions of immigrants who faced similar experiences. While people began to accept immigrants and racism became less harsh over the years, there is no doubt that immigrants are still facing countless obstacles.

Undocumented immigrants are especially facing injustice and limited rights that are preventing them from living their lives comfortably in America. Researchers estimated that there were about 1.85 million undocumented immigrants living in California in 2021, and 43,000 in San Francisco County in 2019.

Jose Antonio Vargas’ famous article My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant brings awareness to the struggles of living in the U.S. illegally. He describes hiding the fact that he immigrated here illegally for years, and his determination to earn his place as an American. He dedicated his hard work and his life to achieving the “American Dream.” However, all those great achievements and success did not help his situation: “...after so many years of trying to be a part of the system, of focusing all my energy on my professional life, I learned that no amount of professional success would solve my problem or ease the sense of loss and displacement I felt.”

Like Vargas, many undocumented immigrants live in fear of being found out or deported. Those currently living in this country cannot gain U.S. citizenship easily, and education, employment, health care services, and others are limited to them. 

It has been centuries since the first wave of immigration broke upon America’s shores. While views on immigration have changed for the better, there is still a long way to go and many things to change for America to be the “free country” immigrants have come here for.  As David, a Mexican American living in Mountain View, comments on KQED’s Forum, “My deepest hope is that one day, we are able to embrace the power of difference and culture.”

Some regions are more diverse and liberal than others, however. For instance, the San Francisco Bay Area has been a popular immigrant settlement for decades. There are approximately 1.5 million immigrants residing in the Bay Area today. The immigrants from the early 1900s paved the way for others like us today to have a better chance at success and to thrive in this country. 

My parents immigrated to the United States when my dad was studying for his engineering degree. They had no experience living outside South Korea, and their English could’ve been better. However, starting their new life in the Bay Area has helped them build their way up, thanks to the help of my dad’s colleagues and friends at his university campus. In recounting his experience in the Bay Area, he seems satisfied. “Many people know that it is a multicultural community. It’s very diverse, and everyone comes from everywhere, so I didn’t have many issues when I lived in the Bay Area, except for some cases. But most of the time, I enjoyed living there because I enjoyed different foods, ceremonies, and cultures from different countries.”

On a question about the influence and impacts of immigration on our community, he responded using an analogy of ecosystems. “Diversity always makes the ecosystem stronger. Same logic. If a society consists of diverse cultures from different people, I think that makes that society strong…the [people in] society have the capability to grow themselves.”

Similarly, in an interview with Madi Bolaños, she mentioned the hard work immigrants perform every day to contribute to our community, and how they bring with them a rich culture. “In addition to the labor they provide, immigrants bring their language, culture, and traditions with them, creating a vibrant, diverse community. We are a better society when we share space with people who come from different areas of the world and different walks of life.”

This image represents a diverse community. Multiculturalism is an important aspect of today’s society.

This is especially true for areas with a large immigrant population like the Bay Area. It has a diverse and open-minded community because of its differences. The food, the culture, and the ideas shared by people from different parts of the world open our eyes to what the world holds. A diverse community is stronger than a community with none.

As a Korean American who lived in the Bay Area for almost my entire life, I never knew what the country was like outside of California. When my friend living in Vermont told me that she only met one Asian in her K-8 school, I was shocked. I realized that the rest of the country was much different from the diverse community I had lived in, and I continue to wonder what it would be like to live in a community with almost no racial diversity. Does the food taste the same? What does their community look like? How would I be treated because of my race? Would the people there be more close-minded, and if so, what ideas would they have about people like me?

These questions are yet to be answered, and exploring how immigrants and immigration have impacted our current society is both complicated and fascinating. Perhaps one day, through more of my own experiences, I will find answers to these questions and have a better appreciation for the struggles and triumphs Bay Area immigrants have gone through to make it the prospering community it is today. 

Works Cited

Lee, Erika, and Judy Yung. Angel Island: Immigrant Gateway to America. Oxford University Press, 2010.

Madrigal, Alexis. “New Book: “Streets of Gold,” Busts Myths about Immigration.” KQED’s Forum, Spotify, Sep 2022.

Vargas, Jose Antonio. “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant.” The New York Times,
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/26/magazine/my-life-as-an-undocumented-immigrant.html.