Like their European immigrant counterparts, immigrants to Minnesota from Asian countries were motivated by economic and social reasons. Minnesota promised jobs and educational opportunities, as well as a slightly more welcoming environment compared to other states in the United States, especially on the West Coast.

However, Asian people were still disproportionately restricted by American immigration law, especially the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the quota system of the 1920s. Once most of these restrictions loosened with the new immigration laws of 1965, more Asians were able to emigrate and make their homes in Minnesota.

Chinese people first moved to Minnesota in the mid-1870s. Most of the early immigrants were single men or men whose families still lived in China. Many of them originally came to the West Coast for jobs, but anti-Asian discrimination forced them to move further into the United States and find homes and employment in places like Minnesota.

Even though the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 restricted immigration from China, Minnesota's Chinese population grew because they were coming here from other states. Chinese immigrants worked as laborers in many industries, and they also founded several types of small businesses in Minnesota cities like laundries, restaurants, hotels, and stores.

Liang May Seen was born in China around 1871. After living in California as a child and a teen, she married Woo Yee Sing, a Minneapolis businessman, and moved to Minnesota with him in 1893. She was the first Chinese-born woman to live in the state.

Howard Woo was born in 1905 in San Francisco. He was adopted by Liang May Seen and Woo Yee Sing and came to Minneapolis in 1906. He was probably the first Chinese child to live in the state. His interview is full of details of the early Chinese community in Minnesota.

Interview with Howard Woo, 1981

Many Chinese immigrant men came on their own to set up business in Minnesota. It was common for them to bring their sons to help them run these businesses when they turned eleven or twelve. One example of a child immigrant from China is Harold Kee, who came to St. Paul in 1911 to help his father. His interview provides fascinating information on the early period of Chinese immigration to the state.

Interview with Harold Kee, 1980

After the United States annexed the Philippines following the Spanish-American War of 1898, Filipino people began immigrating to the United States.

Young Filipinos came to Minnesota to attend the University of Minnesota starting in the 1910s. Others worked in the sugar beet fields, farms, and canneries. Those who came for seasonal jobs often remained in the Twin Cities and became permanent residents.

Born in the Philippines in 1904, Paul Borge wanted to come to the United States since he was a boy. He arrived on the West Coast in 1926 and worked several jobs as a laborer until he arrived in Minneapolis in 1928. He married a local woman in 1934 and became a permanent resident of Minnesota in the same year. His interview is full of details of life as a young Filipino immigrant in Minnesota and his activity in Filipino community organizations.

Interview with Paul C. Borge, 1978

Later waves of Filipinos arrived starting in the 1960s, often as young professionals with their families. Costancio and Luz Argueza applied to come to the United States in 1968 because they believed they would be easily admitted as professionals. Their application was eventually accepted and they immigrated here in 1972. In their interview, they discussed the wave of Filipino immigrants who, like them, arrived after 1965 when immigration laws loosened.

Interview with Constancio F. and Luz A. Argueza, 1978

Very few Japanese people came to Minnesota during the 1800s, when the majority lived in California. Those who did come often were contract laborers working for the railroads, or temporary seasonal workers. Some stayed to work in service jobs in the cities, but there was no established Japanese American community here before World War II.

A larger influx of Japanese people came to Minnesota during World War II. Some came to attend the Military Intelligence Service Language School to learn how to translate Japanese communication during the war, and their families joined them. Others transferred to Minnesota colleges and universities to continue their studies. Families and skilled workers benefited from resettlement organizations that helped Japanese Americans find their home here.

Korean people first came to Minnesota as individual workers or students, but there was no significant group of immigrants from Korea until the mid-twentieth century. After the Korean War ended in 1953, larger numbers of Korean immigrants began to settle in Minnesota.

These Koreans included students, wives of American soldiers, and war orphans. After immigration restrictions loosened in 1965, Korean immigration to Minnesota increased, and they became the largest immigrating group to Minnesota in 1971.

Mary Kim Bilek was born in Seoul in 1938. Her family fled Korea during the Korean War, and after the war she decided to come to America to attend college. She studied at the University of Minnesota and stayed in the state for her career and her family. In her interview, she discussed her life in Korea, her impressions of the United States, and the differences between Korean and American cultures.

Interview with Mary Kim Bilek, 1979

The experience of Koreans adopted by Minnesotans is different from Koreans who emigrated here with other Koreans. Susan March, who was adopted from Korea in 1975, discussed some of these differences and how she is reconnecting with her Korean culture as an adult.

Interview with Susan March, 2011

Like other Asians, Indian immigrants came to Minnesota individually or in small groups during the late 1800s and early 1900s for jobs and education. But it took the Immigration and Naturalization Act of 1965 for large groups of Indians to immigrate to Minnesota.

Many Indians came here as students and settled once they got jobs in technology, engineering, medicine, and other professional industries. They established strong Indian American communities in the Twin Cities and neighboring suburbs.

Neena Gada immigrated to Minnesota in 1967 to join her husband, who had gone to school and was working as an engineer in the United States. Once here, she actively participated in Indian community groups like the India Club and the School of India for Languages and Culture.

Interview with Neena Gada, 2004. Inset photograph from the Minnesota Historical Society.

Immigrants also came to Minnesota from mainland southeast Asia, including Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Many of these immigrants arrived as refugees after the Vietnam War. Indochinese refugees were the largest growing immigrant group to Minnesota from 1975 to 1981.

The Southeast Asians who relocated to Minnesota came for both political and economic reasons. Some of them had worked for or with the U.S. government during the war and feared punishment from the Communist regimes who took over afterwards. Others fled poverty, food shortages, and unemployment in the unstable region.

Hue Van Lien was born in Vietnam and personally experienced the fall of Saigon. He described how he felt and why he and his family had to leave, as well as his life in a refugee camp and his immigration process, in this interview.

Interview with Hue Van Lien, 2010. Inset photograph from the Minnesota Historical Society.

Learn about the many people who came to Minnesota from Spanish-speaking countries by exploring the pages below.