Moral Borders and Immoral(ized) Crossings: The Transpacific Emergence of the ‘War on Asian Prostitutes’ in 19th-Century America and the ‘Yellow Peril’ as the Sexual Peril

This paper explores the transpacific formation of the 'War on Prostitution' agenda and the fear of the yellow peril, perceived as both the sexual and moral peril, examining the confluence of gendered and religious ideologies that underpin migration-control policies. In elucidating the dynamics of what Espiritu, Lowe, and Yoneyama (2017) called 'transpacific intimacies and entanglements' in the construction and dissemination of a moral panic concerning "Asian sexual slavery," the paper delves into how constructs of morality, intricately linked with state apparatuses, have been utilized to demarcate the limits of permissible conduct for women, especially targeting individuals deemed 'immoral' by state and religious entities.The paper focuses particularly on the influence of American foreign missions in East Asia and local political and religious discourses that have further categorized and controlled women based on perceived moral failings, scrutinizing the implications these measures have had on the broader discourse of migration and moral regulation