In the early 1900s, panic over the arrival of South Asian immigrants swept up and down the West Coast of North America. While racism and fear of labor competition were at the heart of this furor, Not Fit to Stay: Public Health Panics and South Asian Exclusion reveals that public leaders - including physicians, union leaders, civil servants, journalists, and politicians - latched onto unsubstantiated public health concerns to justify the exclusion of South Asians from Canada and the United States.