Last Journey to America: Deportation of Dosan Ahn Chang Ho (1924-1926)

Abstract

Dosan Ahn Chang Ho travelled extensively to China, Russia, Europe, Mexico, Australia, and Canada, and three times to America for Korean independence. Ahn Chang Ho first came to America in 1902 with his wife, Hyeryon, also called Helen, and stayed until early 1907. Dosan returned to America in October 1911 and stayed until 1919. Dosan’s third and final trip to America was between 1924 and 1926. The purpose of this paper is to retrace Dosan’s final journey across the Pacific to America, and to investigate why and how he was deported from the United States to Australia in 1926. It turns out that Dosan Ahn Chang Ho was interrogated by the U.S. Immigration Service in Chicago on June 3, 1925, to investigate if he was a Bolshevist. Although Dosan’s visa extension request was approved, the Immigration Office did not trust him and decided to deport him in 1926. Based on U.S. Immigration Service documents and Sinhan minbo articles, this paper firmly concludes that the U.S. Immigration Service deported Dosan Ahn Chang Ho in 1926, and he was never allowed to be reunited with his family in America. Ralph Ahn, the youngest son of Dosan Ahn Chang Ho, never met his father, as Dosan left San Francisco on March 2, 1926, while his wife Helen was pregnant. Ahn was arrested by Japanese police in 1932 in Shanghai and died in 1938 due to harsh imprisonment and torture.