It is suggested by Leo Rosten, in his book "The Joys of Yiddish", that as soon as they left their boats, they were subjected to racism by the port immigration authorities. The derogatory term "kike" was adopted in reference to Jews (because most of them could not write and as a result, they may have signed their immigration papers with circles – or kikels in Yiddish). Efforts were also made by the Asiatic Exclusion League to bar Jewish immigrants (along with other Middle Eastern ethnic groups, like Arabs, Assyrians, and Armenians) from naturalization, nevertheless, they (along with Assyrians and Armenians) were granted US citizenship, despite being classified as Asians.