On September 6, 1950, there was a knock at the door, Jiang Ying got up and opened the door, and two officials of the US Immigration Bureau appeared, one of whom was recognized by Qian Xuesen at a glance, and the uneasy emotions immediately rushed to the heart!
In August 1950, Qian Xuesen returned to his home in Los Angeles, staying at home, but he always found some people in front of his house sneaking around, as if they were spying on him.
At this time, Qian Xuesen had already sensed that the magic claw of doubt was reaching out to him, and he slid step by step into the mud that was monitored and could not move at any time.
During this time at home, the news of the arrest of his friend Wei Yinbaum and others came one after another, and Qian Xuesen was uneasy, and he realized that the day of his arrest was not far away.
On September 6, 1950, there was a knock at the door, Jiang Ying got up and opened the door, and two USCIS officials appeared in front of the door, one of whom was the person who announced at the Los Angeles airport that Qian Xuesen was forbidden to leave the United States.
Jiang Ying saw that the other party was not good and did not let them into the house. When the two officials saw Qian Xuesen coming out of his study, they asked him to issue a statement about his basic personal situation.
The statement was to the effect that Qian Xuesen had never been a member of the Communist Party of the United States, nor was he allowed to use his name by any party or organization in the United States, returning to China because his father and mother-in-law needed his help and support.
Even so, the two officials read out the arrest warrants that had been prepared as usual. After qian Xuesen's arrest, he was first detained in the Los Angeles Detention Center and then transferred to Termino Island.
Termino Island, also known as "Rattlesnake Island", is only a very inconspicuous island in the United States, but it is surrounded by the sea, which is convenient for isolation from the outside world and more effective in preventing prisoners from escaping, so it was favored by the Immigration Bureau and later expanded into a detention center.
The Termino Detention Centre is damp and dark, often filled with Spanish, as most of the prisoners held here are transboundary prisoners from Mexico. Dreaming of working in the United States to make a fortune, these Mexicans smuggled them from the border to the United States, where they were caught and imprisoned on the island of Termino.
Qian Xuesen was also imprisoned here, but he was kept in a cell alone and under constant surveillance.
Soon, the news of Qian Xuesen's detention was revealed in major newspapers, and his work unit, the California Institute of Technology, and his colleagues tried to rescue him, sending milliken, the director of the laboratory, into the detention center to visit, and hiring lawyers to prepare a complaint.
In particular, Dean Dubridge is actively carrying out multi-faceted rescue activities for Qian Xuesen, and he first tried to negotiate with the US military through his own relationship and demanded Qian Xuesen's release.
Later, he contacted Qian Xuesen's mentor, von Carmen. Von Carmen was visiting Europe at that time, heard about the encounter of the student Qian Xuesen, and immediately interrupted the visit and rushed back to the United States in advance.
Under the pressure of various public opinions, the situation has taken a turn for the better. On 16 September, Dubridge, Lindwal and defence counsel visited Qian Xuesen at the detention facility to learn more about the situation.
On September 18, Dubridge wrote a letter to U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Navy Kim Bell, a close friend of Qian Xuesen's and a strong blocker of Qian Xuesen's return to China.
Although Kimbell tried his best to prevent Qian Xuesen from returning to China, he did not want the United States to imprison Qian Xuesen. Kimbell was deeply shocked, even very annoyed, about Qian Xuesen's arrest, saying: "I don't mean he should be detained, that's too bad, he's not a communist, there's no reason to detain him." ”
So when Dubridge wrote to Kimbell to defend Qian Xuesen, Kimbell returned to Washington and communicated further with Deputy Attorney General Ford.
After that, Ford agreed to release Qian Xuesen and then notified the attorney general of Los Angeles. The attorney general immediately summoned Caltech Dean Dubridge, Lindwar, and his lawyers to further discuss Qian Xuesen's release, and the final result was that he could be released, but he would need to pay $15,000 bail, which is not a small amount.
At this time, Qian Xuesen had been detained in detention for 15 days.
During this period, Jiang Ying was allowed to visit the prison once. When she saw Qian Xuesen, she saw that his face was pale and haggard, and he had already been tortured into a human form after only a few days of detention.
Jiang Ying spoke to him, and he did not answer, only nodding his head, and his face was tight. Jiang Ying then understood: her husband had lost his ability to speak. She said nothing more, and in order to reassure him, she told him that everything that should be done was being done.
After many negotiations and efforts, Qian Xuesen was finally released from prison on September 22. After returning home for several days, he slowly regained the ability to speak.
After his release from prison, Qian Xuesen once told a reporter: "I was forbidden to talk to anyone, and at night, the guards came every 15 minutes to turn on the lights, so that I could not rest well, and such a painful experience made me lose 30 pounds in such a short time!" ”
As a famous professor at the California Institute of Technology at that time, and a scientist who made great contributions to the development of science, Qian Xuesen suffered a prison of malicious speculation, and his psychological heavy blow was far greater than the pain of skin and flesh.
The pain of this imprisonment has further strengthened Qian Xuesen's determination to return to the embrace of the motherland. At this point, Qian Xuesen also embarked on a difficult road back to China! However, at this moment, even if he encountered great difficulties and obstacles, Qian Xuesen was ready to face the difficulties and return to China no matter what!
