“Oh, Weldon Chan! Where are you hiding?": Sanctuary and Fugitivity in Memory and Song, 1958 to the Present

Abstract

This article explores the history of Weldon Chan and his family, who moved to Canada in 1958 and contested their orders for deportation by sending Chan into hiding for over three and a half years. The article explores the public and private dimensions of this history while drawing attention to the larger issues of migration control and racial justice that animated discussions about Chinese migration in mid-twentieth century Canada. In order to fully explore the politics of sanctuary and memory, as produced by this case, the article then turns to the memorialization of this story in the 1961 "Ballad of Weldon Chan".