Commentary: 'On the occasion of the Day of Remembrance, it is worth noting the role of Chicago’s Japanese American community in the career of one of Chicago’s most prominent politicians, Sidney Yates.'
On the occasion of the Day of Remembrance, it is worth noting the role of Chicago’s Japanese American community in the career of one of Chicago’s most prominent politicians, Sidney Yates, who servedas the U.S. representative of Illinois’ 9th District. As the representative of one of the largest populations of Japanese American immigrants in the United States, Yates was a vocal advocate for civil rights and immigration reform.
“I remember meeting with a Japanese American group. We met in a little restaurant in an area that was called Little Tokyo . They had just come out of the camps in California. They wanted only one promise from me — that I would oppose Oriental exclusion laws, which prevented their parents from becoming citizens,” he said. “I told them I couldn’t promise anything, but that I wanted them to know that their goals were my goals: democratic liberty.
Once in the House, Yates became a passionate advocate for Japanese Americans. As his first act as a congressman in January 1949, Yates submitted a bill to permit Japanese immigrants, then barred from naturalization under the 1790 Immigration Act, to become U.S. citizens. The bill passed the House but died in the Senate. Nonetheless, Japanese Americans took note of Yates’ actions and lauded him as a “man of his word.
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