Immediately following the expulsion, Chinese consulates in Washington D.C. and San Francisco pursued legal avenues to ensuring a just resolution. On Yang Ming, the consul general in San Francisco, messaged Secretary of State Thomas F. Bayard and noted that "Several hundred Chinese driven from Tacoma...No effort made by the governor or authorities to protect them. Prompt action must be taken, or the same outrage will be enacted all over the Territory." The Chinese consulate continued to make the argument that the expulsion and related acts of anti-Chinese violence were a direct violation of the Burlingame Treaty.