May Quan Tsang, My Grandmother's Journey, Part 3

Led by my Aunt Dorothy, back in 1952,  the family hired a lawyer to get my Grandmother back from HK to NYC.  They all gave depositions as to why my Grandmother should be allowed to enter the US, as a returning citizen.   I learned these dates from my Uncle Herbert (Sing Sok’s) deposition.

 “In May, 1935 when I was about 4 years of age, my mother returned to China, taking all five children with her.  There we remained until after the cessation of hostilities in World War 2, save Robert who returned to the United State in 1940.”

Sing Sok returned to US in 1946, he was 15.

My Aunt Dorothy came back to the US as a teenager (I guess after 1940), but then got sent back to Hong Kong because she was “difficult”.  My interpretation has always been Kow Gung didn't know how to deal with women, let alone girls or girls so he sent her back to be with the family.  My dad tells stories of how she stayed with a couple of different families when she was in NY but none of them could “handle her” because she was difficult.  Gee, to me she wasn't difficult at all, she was probably just a lonely child.

My grandmother sent all of her kids back to NYC without her.  When they left NYC she never thought she would return to the US, and therefore didn't keep any up-to-date passports or documents.  Who knows where her China birth documents were.  Without any documents, she couldn’t get back in to the US.  It seems like my Aunt Dorothy took the lead on getting a lawyer to obtain the proper credentials to get my grandmother back here.  Who knew this would actually lead to an Act in Congress to declare my Grandmother a returning immigrant.  I was so thrilled to see this, but later through a simple Google Search learned it was very common.