I was excited when I first stumbled upon this article, for exactly the reasons you mention—Johnson was a completely forgotten figure. Glad to see somebody else picking up that thread and seeing where it lead!

Quicksilver is somehow simultaneously set in both NY and San Francisco at the same time…

I’m in!

Me!

I have copied hundreds of NARA files from the Red Scare, but unfortunately not that one. However, this account from one of the Deer Island detainees also exists: catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/10169...

Truth

The legal chicanery that makes it possible is a patently bad-faith legal ruling from the 1800s that pretends deportation is not a punishment, but simply an administrative civil procedure, and therefore the 8th Amendment (and most of the rest of the Bill of Rights) does not apply

The IISH in Amsterdam scanned it for me (search.iisg.amsterdam/Record/1331624 ), but I don’t think I have the file any more. But their rates for scans are very reasonable

I second the nomination. Great book!

I have a bit of info on Sedov and Shatuka here: kenyonzimmer.com/red-scare-de... and
kenyonzimmer.com/red-scare-de...