Understanding Paper Sons

The concept of 'paper sons' refers to individuals who claimed to be U.S. citizens of Chinese descent but had no legitimate documentation to prove their status. This phenomenon emerged largely due to the restrictive Chinese Exclusion Acts, which prevented Chinese immigrants from gaining official recognition. As a result of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, many records were destroyed, allowing these individuals to falsely claim citizenship by asserting that they were born in the U.S. This system encouraged fraudulent practices where existing citizens could sell slots to prospective immigrants in China, allowing them to enter the United States under false pretenses.