Throughout the entire passage Nishimura Ekiu’s name is only mentioned once. Instead she is referred to as “a female subject of the emperor of Japan”. Refraining from using her name lessens the readers’ ability to relate to her. I think that some people today use langue that dehumanizes immigrants to make them seem less like people. It is almost as if an individual does not deserve to be acknowledged as a person if they cannot be beneficial to a community. Our current laws are somewhat similar in the sense that immigrants must pass tests to be deemed worthy of citizenship. Since Ekiu arrived as a single female with only $22 it was decided that she was “a person without means of support” and “liable to become a public charge”. I believe that
