After 12 years living in California, Chinese citizen Chae Chan Ping was ready for a visit home.

在加利福尼亞居住十二年後，中國公民柴禪平準備回家鄉一趟。

He procured the necessary documents for his departure and return journey, and set sail for China, where he spent the next year reconnecting with friends and family.

他取得了去程和回程的必要文件，啟航駛往中國，隔年在中國和親朋好友重聚。

But when he returned to San Francisco on October 8th, 1888, Ping and his fellow immigrant passengers were forbidden to disembark.

但在 1888 年 10 月 8 日禪平回到舊金山時，卻和其他中國移民一起被禁止下船。

Just days earlier, President Grover Cleveland had signed the Scott Act, which invalidated the legal documents allowing their re-entry to the United States.

就在幾天前，克里夫蘭總統簽署了《史考特法案》，將他們重新入境美國的法律文件作廢。

This policy threatened to separate families and deprive Chinese immigrants of their homes and livelihoods.

這項政策威脅拆散家庭並剝奪中國移民的家園和生計。

Ping challenged the ruling, beginning a legal battle for the rights of thousands of Chinese immigrants.

禪平挑戰這個判決並打起了法律戰，想藉此維護數千名中國移民的權利。

But his case inspired an even more controversial policy that continues to impact immigrants around the globe.

但他的官司卻激起了另一個更具爭議性的政策，並從此影響了來自全球的移民。

Discrimination against Chinese immigrants had begun decades earlier, when the California Gold Rush created a massive demand for labor.

對中國移民的歧視開始於幾十年前，加利福尼亞淘金熱創造了大量的勞力需求。

Initially, Chinese immigrants were welcomed as reliable workers and became essential parts of frontier communities.

工作可靠的中國移民最初深受歡迎，成為拓荒者族群中不可或缺的一部分。

Many built railroads and worked in the mines, while others operated laundries, restaurants, and general stores.

很多人興建鐵路或挖礦，其他人則開設洗衣店、餐廳、雜貨店等。

The 1868 Burlingame Treaty even granted China favored trading status with the US, and allowed unrestricted migration between the two countries.

1868 年的《蒲安臣條約》甚至給予了中國最惠國待遇，允許兩國之間自由移民。

But as large numbers of Chinese immigrants found success, American workers began to see them as a threat.

但就在許多中國移民獲致成功後，美國工人開始將他們視為威脅。

Politicians and labor leaders denounced them for driving down wages, and violence against Chinese individuals became increasingly common.

政治人物和勞工領袖譴責他們拉低薪資，對華人的暴力也越來越常見。

This anti-Chinese sentiment soon found its way into California's courts.

這種排華情緒很快就體現在加利福尼亞的法庭之中。

In 1854, following a murder trial where a white man was convicted of murdering a Chinese man,

在 1854 年的一件謀殺審判中，一名白人男子因為殺害了一名華人男子而被定罪，

the California Supreme Court overturned the conviction, holding that Chinese eyewitness testimony was inadmissible.

但加利福尼亞最高法院卻推翻了原來的判決，認為華裔目擊證人的證詞不足採信。

The court declared that Chinese citizens could not testify against white defendants, citing similar precedents forbidding testimony by Black and Native American individuals.

法庭宣告中國公民不能作證控告白人，並援引了禁止黑人與美洲原住民作證的類似先例。

This decision effectively legalized violence against California's Chinese population, inspiring mob attacks and campaigns for segregation.

這個判決實際上合法化了針對加利福尼亞華人的暴力行徑，激勵暴民發動攻擊並鼓吹種族隔離。

Before long, anti-Chinese sentiment reached the federal level.

不久後，排華的情緒上升到了聯邦層級。

In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, the first federal law that restricted immigration based explicitly on nationality.

1882 年美國國會通過了《排華法案》，而這是第一部明確以國籍限制移民的聯邦法律。

In practice, the Act banned entry to all ethnically Chinese immigrants besides diplomats, and prohibited existing immigrants from obtaining citizenship.

實務上《排華法案》禁止所有除了外交官以外的華裔移民入境，並阻止現有移民取得公民權。這也代表中國人離開美國後不能返回，除非事先申請申請重新入境的證明。

It also meant Chinese individuals couldn't leave the United States and return without first applying for a certificate of re-entry.

這也代表中國人離開美國後便無法返回，除非事先申請申請重新入境的證明。

This policy remained in place until October 1st, 1888, when the Scott Act prohibited re-entry altogether, stranding Chae Chan Ping and thousands of other Chinese immigrants.

這項政策持續施行，直到 1888 年 10 月 1日，《史考特法案》完全禁止重新入境，使柴禪平和其他數千名中國移民就此無法返回美國。

In court, Ping argued he had followed the proper protocol obtaining his re-entry certificate, and the government had not honored his legally issued document.

禪平在法庭主張他依循正當程序取得重新入境的證明，而政府卻未兌現依法發布的文件。

This argument was strong enough to send his case all the way to the Supreme Court.

這項論點強大的足以將本案一路送進最高法院。

But the justices ruled against Ping, invalidating thousands of legal re-entry certificates in one fell swoop.

但大法官卻作出了對他不利的判決，一舉使數千份合法的重新入境證明作廢。

The decision led to Ping's deportation and left up to 20,000 Chinese immigrants unable to return to the US.

這個判決不但讓禪平被驅逐出境，更使得多達兩萬名中國移民無法返美。

But arguably even more important than the court's racist ruling was the logic they used to support it.

但比法庭種族主義的判決更重要的大概是他們用以支持的邏輯。

Traditionally, the Supreme Court is considered a check on the other two branches of American government, offering judgment on policies passed by Congress and the president.

傳統上最高法院被視為對美國政府行政和立法部門的檢核，為國會和總統通過的政策作出判決。

In this case, however, the court stated they had no power to pass judgment on the Scott Act since Congress had declared the immigration policy "a matter of national security."

然而在這個案例中，法庭聲稱他們無權裁決《史考特法案》，因為國會已宣告移民政策是「國家安全問題」。

This decision set a unique precedent.

這個判決開了先例。

Unless Ping's case was overturned, congressional and executive branches could claim national security concerns to pass whatever immigration laws they wanted.

除非禪平的案子被推翻，否則國會和行政部門便能以國家安全的名義，通過任何他們想要的移民法律。

Throughout the 20th century, xenophobic government officials used this power to freely discriminate against immigrant groups.

整個二十世紀，仇外的政府官員利用這一權力任意歧視移民族群。

The 1917 Asiatic Barred Zone Act prohibited the entry of all South Asians.

1917 年《亞洲人禁區法》禁止所有南亞人民入境。

And a series of immigration acts in the 1920s expanded restrictions throughout Asia, Eastern Europe, and southern Europe.

1920 年代的一連串移民法案則將限制擴張到亞洲、東歐、南歐等地。

Many of these restrictions were lifted after World War II, and the Chinese Exclusion Act itself was finally repealed in 1943 — over 60 years after it was enacted.

這些限制很多在二戰後取消了，《排華法案》本身則終於在 1943 年廢除，此時距離開始施行已經超過六十年了。

But the US government continues to use this precedent to deploy sudden and sweeping immigration policies, targeting journalists and dissidents as well as ethnic groups.

但美國政府仍持續利用著這個先例，針對記者、異見人士、特定種族部署突如其來而全面的移民政策。

Little is known about what became of Chae Chan Ping following his deportation.

我們對柴禪平被驅逐出境後的結果所知甚少。

But the injustices visited upon him and thousands of other Chinese Americans continue to impact immigrant rights and liberties.

但他和其他數千名美國華人遭逢的不公，仍持續影響著移民的權利和自由。

The Chinese Exclusion Act wouldn't be the last time America violated human rights at its own principles in the name of "belonging."

《排華法案》並不是歷史上美國最後一次違反自己的原則，以「歸屬」之名侵害人權的事件。

Learn about the Japanese-American incarceration camps of World War II with this video.

觀看此影片來了解二戰期間的日裔美國人集中營。