An Act to regulate the immigration of aliens into the United States
Fifty-ninth Congress of the United States.
CHAP. 1134.—An Act to regulate the immigration of aliens into the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress , That there shall be levied , collected, and paid a tax of four dollars for every alien entering. the United States. The said tax shall he paid to the collector of customs of the port or customs district to which said alien shall come, or, if there he no collector at such port or district, then to the collector nearest thereto, by the master, agent, owner, or consignee of the vessel, transportation line, or other conveyance or vehicle bringing such alien to the United States. The money thus collected, together. with all fines and rentals collected under the laws regulating the immigration of aliens into the United States, shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States, and shall constitute a permanent appropriation to be called the "immigrant fund," to he used under the direction of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor to defray the expense of regulating the immigration of aliens into the United States under said laws, including the contract labor laws, the cost of reports of decisions of the Federal courts, and digest thereof, for the use of the Commissioner-General of Immigration, and the salaries and expenses of all officers, clerks, and employees appointed to enforce said laws. The tax imposed by this section shall be a lien upon the vessel, or other vehicle of carriage or transportation bringing' such aliens to the United States, and shall be a debt in favor of the United States against the owner or owners of such vessel, or other vehicle, mid the payment of such tax may he enforced by any legal or equitable remedy. That the said tax shall not be levied upon aliens who shall enter the United States after an uninterrupted residence of at least one year, immediately preceding such entrance, in the Dominion of Canada, Newfoundland, the Republic of Cuba, or the Republic of Mexico, nor upon otherwise admissible residents of any possession of the United States, nor upon aliens in transit through the United States, nor upon aliens who have been lawfully admitted to the United States and who later shall go in transit from one part of the United States to another through foreign contiguous territory: Provided, That the Commissioner-General of Immigration, under the direction or with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, by agreement: with transportation lines, as provided in section thirty-two of this Act, may arrange in sonic other manner for the payment of the tax imposed by this section upon any or all aliens seeking admission from foreign contiguous territory: Provided further, That if in any fiscal year the amount of money collected under the provisions of this section shall exceed two million five hundred-thousand dollars, the excess above that amount shall not be added to the "immigrant fund:" Provided further, That the provisions of this section shall not apply to aliens arriving in Guam, Porto Rico, or Hawaii; but if any such alien, not having become a citizen of the United States, shall later arrive at any port or place of the United States on the North American Continent the provisions of this section shall apply: Provided further, That whenever the President shall be satisfied that passports issued by ally foreign government to its citizens to go to any country other than the United States or to any insular possession of the United States or to the Canal Zone are being' used for the purpose of enabling the holders to come to the continental territory of the United States to the detriment of labor conditions therein, the President may refuse to permit such citizens of the country issuing such passports to enter the continental territory of the United States from such other country or from such insular possessions or from the Canal Zone.
Sec. 2. That the following classes of aliens shall be excluded from admission into the United States: All idiots, imbeciles, feeble-minded (899) persons, epileptics, insane persons, and persons who have been insane within five years previous; persons who have had two or more attacks of insanity at any tine previously : paupers; persons likely to become a public charge; professional beggars; persons afflicted with tuberculosis or with a loathsome or dangerous contagious disease; persons not comprehended within any of the foregoing excluded classes who are found to be and are certified by the examining surgeon as being mentally or physically defective, such mental or physical defect being of a nature which may affect the ability of such alien to earn a living; persons who have been convicted of or admit having committed a felony or other crime or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude; polygamists, or persons who admit their belief in the practice of polygamy, anarchists, or persons who believe in or advocate the overthrow by force or violence of the Government of the United States, or of all government, or of all forms of law, or the assassination of public officials; prostitutes, or women or girls coming into the United States for the purpose of prostitution or for any other immoral purpose; persons who procure or attempt to bring in prostitutes or women or girls for the purpose of prostitution or for any other immoral purpose; persons hereinafter called contract laborers, who have been induced or solicited to migrate to this country by offers or promises of employment or in consequence of agreements, oral, written or printed, express or implied, to perform labor in this country of any kind, skilled or unskilled; those who have been, within one year from the date of application for admission to the United States, deported as having been induced or solicited to migrate as above described; any person whose ticket or passage is paid for with the money of another, or who is assisted by others to come, unless it is affirmatively and satisfactorily shown that such person does not belong to one of the foregoing excluded classes, and that said ticket or passage was not paid for by any corporation, association, society, municipality, or foreign government, either directly or indirectly; all children under sixteen years of age, unaccompanied by one or both of their parents, at the discretion of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor or under such regulations as lie may from time to time prescribe: Provided, That nothing in this Act shall exclude, if otherwise admissible, persons convicted of an offense purely political, not involving moral turpitude: Provided further, That the provisions of this section relating to the payments for tickets or passage by any corporation, association, society, municipality, or foreign government shall not apply to the tickets or passage of aliens in immediate and continuous transit through the United States to foreign contiguous territory: And provided further, That skilled labor may be imported if labor of like kind unemployed can not be found in this country: And provided further, That the provisions of this law applicable to contract labor shall not be held to exclude professional actors, artists, lecturers, singers, ministers of any religious denomination, professors for colleges or seminaries, persons belonging to any recognized learned profession, or persons employed strictly as personal or domestic servants.
Sec. 3 That the importation into the United States of any alien woman or girl for the purpose of prostitution, or for any other immoral purpose, is hereby forbidden; and whoever shall, directly or indirectly, import, or attempt to import, into the United States, any alien woman or girl for the purpose of prostitution, or for any other immoral purpose, or whoever shall hold or attempt to hold any alien woman or girl for ion such purpose in pursuance of such illegal importation, or whoever shall keep, maintain, control, support, or harbor in any house or other place, for the purpose of prostitution, or for any other immoral purpose, any alien woman or girl, within three years after she shall have entered the United States, shall, in every
(900) such case, be deemed guilty of a felony, and on conviction thereof be imprisoned not more than five years and pay a fine of not more than five thousand dollars; and any alien woman or girl who shall be found an inmate of a house of prostitution or practicing prostitution, at any time within three years after she shall have entered the United States shall be deemed to be unlawfully within the United States and shall he deported as provided by sections twenty and twenty-one of this Act.
SEC. 4. That it shall be a misdemeanor for any person, company partnership, corporation, in any manner whatsoever, to prepay the partnership, transportation or in any way to assist or encourage the importation or migration of any contract laborer or contract laborers into the United States, unless such contract laborer or contract laborers are exempted under the terms of the last two provisos contained in section two of this Act.
SEC. 5. That for every violation of any of the provisions of section four of this Act the persons, partnership, company, or corporation violating the same, by knowingly assisting, encouraging, or soliciting the migration or importation of any contract laborer into the United States shall forfeit and pay for every such offense the sum of one thousand dollars, which may be sued for and recovered by the United States, or by any person who shall first bring his action therefor in his own name and for his own benefit, including any such alien thus promised labor or service of any kind as aforesaid, as debts of like amount are now recovered in the courts of the United States; and separate suits may be brought for each alien thus promised labor or service of any kind as aforesaid. And it shall be the duty of the district attorney of the proper district to prosecute every such suit when brought by the United States.
SEC. 6. That it shall be unlawful and be deemed a violation of section of four of this Act to assist or encourage the importation or migration of any alien by promise of employment through advertisements printed and published in any foreign country; and any alien coming (o this country in consequence of such an advertisement shall he treated as coming under promise or agreement as contemplated in section two of this Act, and the penalties imposed by section five of this Act shall be applicable to such a case: Provided, That this section shall not apply to
the States or Territories, the District of Columbia, or places subject to the jurisdiction of the United States advertising the inducements they offer for immigration thereto, respectively.
SEC. 7. That no transportation company or owner or owners of vessels, or others engaged in transporting aliens into the United States,. shall, directly or indirectly, either by writing, printing, or oral representation, solicit, invite, or encourage the immigration of any aliens into the United States, but this shall not be held to prevent transportation companies from issuing letters, circulars, or advertisements, stating the sailings of their vessels and terms and facilities of transportation therein; and for a violation of this provision, any such transportation company, and any such owner or owners of vessels, and all others engaged in transporting aliens into the United States, and the agents by them employed, shall be severally subjected to the penalties imposed by section five of this Act.
SEC. 8. That any person, including the master, agent, owner, or consignee of any vessel, who shall bring into or land in the United States, by vessel or otherwise, or who shall attempt, by himself or through another, to bring into or land in the United States, by vessel or otherwise, any alien riot duly admitted by an immigrant inspector or not lawfully entitled to enter the United States shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, on conviction, be punished by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for
(901) term not exceeding two years, or by both such fine and imprisonment for each and every alien so landed or brought in or attempted to be landed or brought in.
SEC. 9. That it shall be unlawful for any person, including any transportation company other than railway lines entering the United States from foreign contiguous territory, or the owner, master, agent, or consignee of any vessel to bring to the United States any alien subject to any of the following disabilities: Idiots, imbeciles, epileptics, or persons afflicted with tuberculosis or with a loathsome or dangerous contagious disease, and if it shall appear to the satisfaction of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor that any alien so brought to the United States was afflicted with any of the said diseases or disabilities at the time of foreign embarkation and that the existence of such disease or disability might have been detected by means of a competent medical examination at such time, such person or transportation company, or the master, agent, owner, or consignee of any such vessel shall pay to the collector of customs of the customs district in which the port of arrival is located the sure of one hundred dollars for each and every violation of the provisions of this section; and no vessel shall be granted clearance papers pending the determination of the question of the liability to the payment of such fine, and in the event such tine is imposed, while it remains unpaid, nor shall such fine he remitted or refunded: Provided, That clearance may be granted prior to the determination of such questions upon the deposit of a sum sufficient to cover such fine and costs, such sum to be named by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor.
SEC. 10. That the decision of the board of special inquiry, herein- after provided for, based upon the certificate of the examining medical ' officer, shall be final as to the rejection of aliens affected with tuberculosis or with a loathsome or dangerous contagious disease, or with any mental or physical disability which would bring such aliens within any of the classes excluded from admission to the United States under section two of this Act.
SEC. 11. That upon the certificate of a medical officer of the United , States Public Health and Marine Hospital Service to the effect that a I rejected alien is helpless from sickness, mental or physical disability, or infancy, if such alien is accompanied by another alien whose protection or guardianship is required by such rejected alien, such accompanyīng alien may also be excluded, and the master, agent, owner, or consignee of the vessel in which such alien and accompanying alien are brought shall be required to return said alien and accompanying alien in the same manner as vessels are required to return other rejected aliens.
SEC. 12. That upon the arrival of any alien by water at any port within the United States it shall be the duty of the master or commanding officer of the steamer, sailing or other vessel having said alien on board to deliver to the immigration officers at the port of arrival lists or manifests made at the time and place of embarkation of such alien on hoard such steamer or vessel, which shall, in answer to questions at the top of said list, state as to each alien the full name, age, and sex; whether married or single; the calling or occupation; whether able to read or write; the nationality; the race; the last residence; the name and address of the nearest relative in the country from which the alien came: the seaport for landing in the United States; the final destination, if any; beyond the port of landing; whether having a ticket through to such final destination; whether the alien has paid his own passage or whether it has been paid by any other person or by any corporation, society, municipality, or government, and if so, by whom; whether in possession of fifty dollars, and if less, how much; whether going to join a relative or friend, and if so, what relative or friend, and his or her name and complete address;
(902) whether ever before in the United States, and if so, when and where; whether ever in prison or almshouse or an institution or hospital for the care and treatment of the insane or supported by charity; whether a polygamist; whether an anarchist; whether coming by reason Of any offer, solicitation, promise, or agreement, express or implied, to perform labor in the United States, and what is the aliens con_ dition of health, mental and physical, and whether deformed or crippled, and if 'so, for how long and from what cause; that it shall further be the duty of the master or commanding officer of every vessel taking alien passengers out of the United States, from any port thereof, to file before departure therefrom with the collector of customs of such port a complete list of all such alien passengers taken on board. Such list shall contain the name, age, sex, nationality, residence in the United States, occupation, and the time of last arrival of every such alien in the United States, and no master of any such vessel shall be granted clearance papers for his vessel until he has deposited such list or lists with the collector of customs at the port of departure and made oath that they are full and complete as to the name and other information herein required concerning each alien taken on board his vessel; and any neglect or omission to comply with the requirements of this section shall he punishable as provided in section fifteen of this Act. That the collector of customs with whom any such list has been deposited in accordance with the provisions of this ,section, shall promptly notify the Commissioner-General of Immigration that such list has been deposited with him as provided, and shall make such further disposition thereof as may be required by regulations to be issued by the Commissioner-General of Immigration with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor: Provided, That in the case of vessels making regular trips to ports of the United States the Commissioner-General of Immigration, with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, may, when expedient, arrange for the delivery of such lists of outgoing aliens ata later date: Provided further, That it shall be the duty of the master or commanding officer of any vessel sailing from ports in the Philippine Islands, Guam, Porto Rico, or Hawaii to any port of the United States on the North American Continent to deliver to the immigration officers at the port of arrival lists or manifests made at the time and place of embarkation, giving the names of all aliens on board said vessel.
SEC. 13. That all aliens arriving by water at the ports of the United States shall be listed in convenient groups, and no one list or manifest shall contain more than thirty names. To each alien or head of a family shall be given a ticket on which shall be written his name, a number or letter designating the list in which his name, and so forth, is contained, and his number on said list, for convenience of identification on arrival. Each list or manifest shall be verified by the signature and the oath of affirmation of the master or commanding officer, or the first or second below Jim in command, taken before an immigration officer at the port of arrival, to the effect that he has caused the surgeon of said vessel sailing therewith to make a physical and oral examination of each of said aliens, and that from the report of said surgeon and from his own investigation he believes that no one of said aliens is an idiot, or imbecile, or a feeble-minded person, or insane person, or a pauper, or is likely to become a public charge, or is afflicted with tuberculosis or with a loathsome or dangerous contagious disease, or is a person who has been convicted of, or who admits having committed a felony or other crime or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, or is a polygamist or one admitting belief in the practice of polygamy, or an anarchist, or under promise or agreement, express or implied, to perform labor in the United States, or a prostitute, or a woman or girl coming to the United States for the purpose of prostitution, or
(903) for any other immoral purpose, and that also, according to the best of his knowledge and belief, the information in said lists or manifests concerning each of said aliens named therein is correct and true in every respect.
SEC. 14. That the surgeon of said vessel sailing therewith shall also sign each of said lists or manifests and make oath or affirmation in like manner before an immigration officer at the port of arrival, stating his professional experience and qualifications as a physician and surgeon, and that he has made a personal examination of each of the said aliens named therein, and that the said list or manifest, according to the best of his knowledge and belief, is full, correct, and true in all particulars relative to the mental and physical condition of said aliens. If no surgeon sails with any vessel bringing aliens the mental and physical examinations and the verifications of the lists or manifests shall be made by some competent surgeon employed by the owners of the said vessel.
SEC. 15. That in the case of the failure of the master or commanding officer of any vessel to deliver to the said immigration officers lists or manifests of all aliens on board thereof, as required in sections twelve, thirteen, and fourteen of this Act, he shall pay to the collector of customs at the port of arrival the sum of ten dollars for each alien concerning whom the above information is not contained in any list as aforesaid : Provided, That in the case of failure without good cause to deliver the list of passengers required by section twelve of this Act from the master or commanding officer of every vessel taking alien passengers out of the United States, the penalty shall be paid to the collector of customs at the port of departure and shall be a fine of ten dollars for each alien not included in said list ; but in no case shall the aggregate fine exceed one hundred dollars.
SEC. 16. That upon the receipt by the immigration officers at any port of arrival of the lists or manifests of incoming aliens provided for in sections twelve, thirteen, and fourteen of this Act, it shall be the duty of said officers to go or to send competent assistants to the vessel to which said lists or manifests refer, and there inspect all such aliens, or said immigration officers may order a temporary removal of such aliens for examination at a designated time and place, but such temporary removal shall not lie considered a landing, nor shall it relieve the transportation lines, masters, agents, owners, or consignees of the vessel upon which said aliens are brought to any port of the United States from any of the obligations which, in case such aliens remain on board, would, under the provisions of this Act, bind the said transportation lines, masters, agents, owners, or consignees: Provided, That where a suitable building is used for the detention and examination of aliens the immigration officials shall there-take charge of such aliens, and the transportation companies, masters, agents, owners, and consignees of the vessels bringing such aliens shall be relieved of the responsibility for their detention thereafter until the return of such aliens to their care.
SEC. 17. That the physical and mental examination of all arriving ' aliens shall be made by medical officers of the United States Public health and Marine-Hospital Service, who shall have had at least two years' experience in the practice of their profession since receiving the degree of doctor of medicine and who shall certify for the information of the immigration officers and the boards of special inquiry hereinafter provided for, any and all physical and mental defects or diseases observed by said medical officers in any such alien, or, should medical officers of the United States Public Health and Marine-hospital Service be not available, civil surgeons of not less than four years' professional experience may be employed in such emergency for such service, upon such terms as may be prescribed by the Commissioner-General of
(904) Immigration under the direction or with the approval of the Secretary - of Commerce and Labor. The United States Public Health and Marine-Hospital Service shall be reimbursed by the immigration service for all expenditures incurred in carrying out the medical inspection of aliens under regulations of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor.
SEC. 18. That it shall he the duty of the owners, officers, or agents of any vessel or transportation line, other than those railway lines which may enter into a contract as provided in section thirty-two of this Act, bringing an alien to the United States to prevent the landing of such alien in the United States at any time or place other than as designated by the immigration officers, and the negligent failure of any such owner, officer, or agent to comply with the foregoing requirements shall be deemed a misdemeanor and be punished by a fine in each case of not less than one hundred nor more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year, or by both such fine and imprisonment; and every such alien so landed shall be deemed to be unlawfully in the United States and shall be deported as provided in sections twenty and twenty-one of this Act.
SEC. 19. That all aliens brought to this country in violation of law shall, if practicable, be immediately sent back to the country whence they respectively came on the vessels bringing them. The cost of their maintenance while on land, as well as the expense of the return of such aliens, shall be borne by the owner or owners of the vessels on which they respectively came; and if any master, person in charge, agent, owner, or consignee of any such vessel shall refuse to receive hack on board thereof, or on board of any other vessel owned or operated by the same interests, such aliens, or shall fail to detain them thereon, or shall refuse or fail to return them to the foreign port front which they came, or to pay the cost of their maintenance while on land, or shall make any charge for the return of any such alien, or shall take any security from him for the payment of such charge, such master, person in charge, agent, owner, or consignee shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, on conviction, be punished by a fine of not less than three hundred dollars for each and every such offense; and no vessel shall have clearance from any port of the United States while any such fine is unpaid: Provided, That the Commissioner-General of Immigration, with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, may suspend, upon conditions to be prescribed by the Commissioner-General of Immigration the deportation of any alien found to have come in violation of any provision of this Act, if, in his judgment, the testimony of such alien is necessary on behalf of the United States Government in the prosecution of offenders against any provision of this Act: Provided, That the cost of maintenance of any person so detained resulting from such suspension of deportation shall be paid from the "immigrant fund" but no alien certified, as provided in section seventeen of this Act, to be suffering from tuberculosis or from a loathsome or ,dangerous contagious disease other than one of quarantinable nature shall he permitted to land for medical treatment thereof in any hospital in the United States, unless with the express permission of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor: Provided, That upon the certificate of a medical officer of the United States Public Health and Marine-Hospital Service to the effect that the health or safety of an insane alien would be unduly imperiled by immediate deportation, such alien may, at the expense of the " immigrant fund," be held for treatment until such time as such alien may, in the opinion of such medical officer, he safely deported.
SEC. 20. That any alien who shall enter the United States in violation of law, and such as become public charges from causes existing prior to landing, shall, upon the warrant of the Secretary of Commerce and
(905) Labor; be taken into custody and deported to the country whence he came at any time within three years after the date of his entry into the United States. Such deportation; including one-half of the entire cost of removal to the port of deportation; shall be at the expense of the contractor; procurer; or other person by whom the alien was unlawfully induced to enter the United States, or; if that can not be done, then the cost of removal to the port of deportation shall be at the expense of the "immigrant fund" provided for in section one of this Act, and the deportation from such port shall be at the expense of the Owner or owners of such vessel or transportation line by which such aliens respectively came : Provided, That pending the final disposal of the case of any alien so taken into custody he may be released under a bond in the penalty of not less than five hundred dollars with security approved by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor; conditioned that such alien shall be produced when required for a hearing or hearings in regard to the charge upon which he has been taken into custody, and for deportation if he shall be found to be unlawfully within the United States.
SEC. 21. That in case the Secretary of Commerce and Labor shall be satisfied that an alien has been found in the United States in violation of this Act; or that an alien is subject to deportation under the provisions of this Act or of any law of the United States; he shall cause such alien within the period of three years after landing or entry therein to be taken into custody and returned to the country whence he came, as provided by section twenty of this Act; and a failure or refusal on the part of the masters; agents; owners; or consignees of vessels to comply with the order of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor to take on board; guard safely; and return to the country whence he came any alien ordered to be deported under the provisions of this Act shall be punished by the imposition of the penalties prescribed in section nineteen of this Act: Provided, That when in the opinion of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor the mental or physical condition of such alien is such as to require personal care and attendance; he may employ a suitable person for that purpose; who shall accompany such alien to his or her final destination; and the expense incident to such service shall be defrayed in like manner.
SEC. 22. That the Commissioner-General of Immigration; in addition to such other duties as may by law be assigned to him; shall; under the direction of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, have charge of the administration of all laws relating to the immigration of aliens into the United States, and shall have the control; direction; and supervision of all officers; clerks; and employees appointed thereunder. He shall establish such rules and regulations, prescribe such forms of bond; reports; entries; and other papers; and shall issue from time to time such instructions; not inconsistent with law; as he shall deem best calculated for carrying out the provisions of this Act and for protecting the United States and aliens migrating thereto from fraud and loss; and shall have authority to enter into contract for the support and relief of such aliens as may fall into distress or need public aid; all under the direction or with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor. And it shall be the duty of the Commissioner-General of Immigration to detail officers of the immigration service from time to time as may be necessary; in his judgment; to secure information as to the number of aliens detained in the penal; reformatory; and charitable institutions . (public and private) of the several States and Territories, the District of Columbia, and other territory of the United States and to inform the officers of such institutions of the provisions of law in relation to the deportation of aliens who have become public charges : Provided; That the Commissioner-General of Immigration may, with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor; whenever in his judgment such
(906) action may be necessary to accomplish the purposes of this Act; detail immigration officers; and also surgeons; in accordance with the provisions of section seventeen; for service in foreign countries.
SEC. 23. That the duties of the commissioners of immigration shall be of an administrative character; to be prescribed in detail by regulations prepared; under the direction or with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor.
SEC. 24. That immigrant inspectors and other immigration Officers; clerks; and employees shall hereafter be appointed and their compensation fixed and raised or decreased from time to time by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor; upon the recommendation of the Com missioner-General of Immigration and in accordance with the provisions of the civil-service Act of January sixteenth, eighteen hundred and eighty-three: Provided; That said Secretary, in the enforcement of that portion of this Act which excludes contract laborers; may employ; without reference to the provisions of the said civil service Act; or to the various Acts relative to the compilation of the official register; such persons as he may deem advisable and from time to time fix, raise, or decrease their compensation. He may draw from the " immigrant fund" annually fifty thousand dollars or as much thereof as may be necessary; to be expended for the salaries and expenses of . persons so employed and for expenses incident to such employment; and the accounting officers of the Treasury shall pass to the credit of the proper disbursing officer expenditures from said sum without itemized account whenever the Secretary of Commerce and Labor certifies that an itemized account would not be for the best inter-f ests of the Government: Provided further; That nothing herein contained shall be construed to alter the mode of appointing commissioners of immigration at the several ports of the United States as provided by the sundry civil appropriation Act approved August eighteenth; eighteen hundred and ninety-four; or the official status of such commissioners heretofore appointed. Immigration officers shall have power to administer oaths and to take and consider evidence touching the right of any alien to enter the United States; and; where such action may be necessary, to make a written record of such evidence; and any person to whom such an oath has been administered under the provisions of this Act who shall knowingly or wilfully give false evidence or swear to any false statement in any way affecting or in relation to the right of any alien to admission to the United States shall be deemed guilty of perjury and be punished as provided by section fifty-three hundred and ninety-two; United States Revised Statutes.. The decision of any such officer, if favorable to the admission of any alien, shall be subject to challenge by any other immigration officer; and such challenge shall operate to take the alien whose right to land is so challenged before a board of special inquiry for its investigation. Every alien who may not appear to the examining immigrant inspector at the port of arrival to be clearly and beyond a doubt entitled to land shall be detained for examination in relation thereto by a board of special inquiry.
SEC 25. That such boards of special inquiry shall be appointed by the commissioner of immigration at the various ports of arrival as may be necessary for the prompt determination of all eases of immigrants detained at such ports under the provisions of law. Each board shall consist of three members, who shall be selected from such of the immigrant officials in the service as the Commissioner-General of Immigration; with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor; shall from time to time designate as qualified to serve on such boards: Provided; That at ports where there are fewer than three immigrant inspectors; the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, upon the recommendation of the Commissioner-General of Immigration; may designate other United States officials for service on such boards of special
(907) inquiry. Such boards shall have authority to determine whether an alien who has been duly held shall be allowed to land or shall be deported. All hearings before boards shall be separate and apart front the public, but the said boards shall keep a complete permanent record of their proceedings and of all such testimony as may be produced before them; and the decision of any two members of a board shall prevail, but either the alien or any dissenting member of the said board may appeal through the commissioner of immigration at the port of arrival and the Commissioner-General of Immigration to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor; and the taking of such appeal shall operate to stay any action in regard to the final disposal of any alien whose case is so appealed until the receipt by the commissioner of immigration at the port of arrival of such decision which shall be rendered solely upon the evidence adduced before the board of special inquiry: Provided; That in every case where an alien is excluded from admission into the United States; under any law or treaty now existing or hereafter made; the decision of the appropriate immigration officers; if adverse to the admission of such alien; shall be final; unless reversed on appeal to the Secretary of Commerce and Labor; but nothing in this section shall be construed to admit of any appeal in the case of an alien rejected as provided for in section ten of this Act.
SEC. 26. That any alien liable to be excluded because likely to become a public charge or because of physical disability other than tuberculosis or a loathsome or dangerous contagious disease may, if otherwise admissible; nevertheless he admitted in the discretion of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor upon the giving of a suitable and proper bond or undertaking; approved by said Secretary in such amount and containing such conditions as he may prescribe; to the people of the United States; holding the United States or any State; Territory; county; municipality; or district thereof harmless against such alien becoming a public charge. The admission of such alien shall be a consideration for the giving of such bond or undertaking. Suit may be brought thereon in the name and by the proper law officers either of the United States Government or of any State; Territory; district; county, or municipality ill which such alien becomes a public charge.
SEC. 27. That no suit or proceeding for a violation of the provisions of this Act shall be settled; compromised; or discontinued without the consent of the court in which it is pending entered of record; with the reasons therefor.
SEC. 28. That nothing contained in this Act shall be construed to affect any prosecution; suit; action; or proceedings brought; or any act; thing; or matter, civil or criminal; done or existing at the time of the taking effect of this Act; but as to all such prosecutions; suits, actions, proceedings; acts, things; or matters the laws or parts of laws repealed or amended by this Act are hereby continued in force and effect.
SEC. 29. That the circuit and district courts of the United States are hereby invested with full and concurrent jurisdiction of all causes; civil and criminal; arising under any of the provisions of this Act.
SEC. 30. That all exclusive privileges of exchanging money; transporting passengers or baggage, or keeping eating houses; and all other like privileges in connection with any United States immigrant station; shall be disposed of after public competition; subject to such conditions and limitations as the Commissioner-General of Immigration; under the direction or with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor; nay prescribe: Provided; That no intoxicating liquors shall be sold in any such immigrant station; that all receipts accruing from the disposal of such exclusive privileges as herein provided shall be paid into the Treasury of the United States to the credit of the "immigrant fund" provided for in section one of this Act.
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SEC. 31. That for the preservation of the peace and in order that arrests may be made for crimes under the laws of the States and 'Territories of the United States where the various immigrant' stations are located; the officers in charge of such stations; as occasion may require shall admit therein the proper State and municipal officers charged with the enforcement of such laws; and for the purpose of this section the jurisdiction of such officers and of the local courts shall extend over such stations.
SEC. 32. That the Commissioner-General of Immigration; under the direction or with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor; shall prescribe rules for the entry and inspection of aliens along the borders of Canada and Mexico; so as not to unnecessarily delay; impede, or annoy passengers in ordinary travel between the United States and said countries; and shall have power to enter into contracts with transportation lines for the said purpose.
SEC. 33. That for the purpose of this Act the term " United States" as used in the title as well as in the various sections of this Act shall be construed to mean the United States and any waters, territory; or other place subject to the jurisdiction thereof; except the Isthmian Canal Zone: Provided, That if any alien shall leave the canal zone and attempt to enter any other place under the jurisdiction of the United States; nothing contained in this Act shall be construed as permitting him to enter under any other conditions than those applicable to all aliens.
SEC. 34. That the Commissioner-General of Immigration; with the approval of the 'Secretary of Commerce and Labor, may appoint a 'commissioner of immigration to discharge at New Orleans, Louisiana, the duties now required of other commissioners of immigration at their respective posts.
SEC. 35. That the deportation of aliens arrested within the United States after entry and found to be illegally therein, provided for in this Act; shall be to the trans—Atlantic or trans-Pacific ports from which said aliens embarked for the United States; or; if such embarkation was for foreign contiguous territory, to the foreign port at which said aliens embarked for such territory.
SEC. 36. That all aliens who shall enter the United States except at the seaports thereof; or at such place or places as the Secretary of Commerce and Labor may from time to time designate; shall be adjudged to have entered the country unlawfully and shall be deported as provided by sections twenty and twenty-one of this Act: Provided; That nothing contained in this section shall affect the power conferred by section thirty-two of this Act upon the Commissioner-General of Immigration to prescribe rules for the entry and inspection or aliens along the borders of Canada and Mexico.
SEC. 37. That whenever an alien shall have taken up his permanent residence in this country, and shall have filed his declaration of intention to become a citizen; and thereafter shall send for s we; minor children to join him; if said wife or any of said children shall be found to he affected with any contagious disorder, such wife or children shall be held; under such regulations as the Secretary of Commerce and Labor shall prescribe; until it shall be determined whether the disorder will be easily curable; or whether they can be permitted to land without danger to other persons; and they shall not be either admitted or deported until such facts have been ascertained; and if it shall be determined that the disorder is easily curable or that they can be permitted to land without danger to other persons, they shall; if otherwise admissible; thereupon be admitted.
SEC. 38. That no person who disbelieves in or who is opposed to all organized government, or who is a member of or affiliated with an organization entertaining and teaching such disbelief in or opposition
(909) to all organized government, or who advocates or teaches the duty, necessity, or propriety of the unlawful assaulting or killing of any officer or officers, either of specific-individuals or of officers generally; of the Government of the United States or of any other organized government; because of his or their official character, shall be permitted to enter the United States or any territory or place subject to the jurisdiction thereof. This section shall be enforced by the Secretary Of Commerce and Labor under such rules and regulations as he shall prescribe. That any person who knowingly aids or assists any such person to enter the United States or any territory or place subject to the jurisdiction thereof; or who connives or conspires with any person or persons to allow; procure, or permit any such person to enter therein; except pursuant to such rules and regulations made by the Secretary of Commerce and Labor shall be fined not more than five thousand dollars; or imprisoned for not more than five years; or both.
SEC. 39. That a commission is hereby created; consisting of three Senators; to be appointed by the President of the Senate, and three members of the House of Representatives; to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and three persons; to be appointed by the President of the United States. Said commission shall make full inquiry; examination, and investigation by sub-committee or otherwise into the subject of immigration. For the purpose of said inquiry; examination; and investigation; said commission is authorized to send for persons and papers; make all necessary travel; either in the United States or any foreign country, and, through the chairman of the commission or any member thereof to administer oaths and to examine witnesses and papers respecting all matters pertaining to the subject; and to employ necessary clerical and other assistance. Said commission shall report to the Congress the conclusions reached by it and make such recommendations as in its judgment may seem proper. Such sums of money as may be necessary for the said inquiry; examination; and investigation are hereby appropriated and authorized to be paid out of the "immigrant fund" on the certificate of the chairman of said commission; including all expenses of the commissioners and a reasonable compensation, to be fixed by the President of the United States; for those members of the commission who are not members of Congress; and the President of the United States is also authorized, in the name of the Government of the United States; to call; in his discretion; an international conference; to assemble at such point as may be agreed upon; or to send special commissioners to any foreign country, for the purpose of regulating by international agreement, subject to the advice and consent of the Senate of the United States, the immigration of aliens to the United States; of providing for the mental; moral and physical examination of such aliens by American consuls or other officers of the United States Government at the ports of embarkation, or elsewhere; of securing the assistance of foreign governments in their own territories to prevent the evasion of the laws of the United States governing immigration to the United States; of entering into such international agreements as may be proper to prevent the immigration of aliens who, under the laws of the United States; are or may be excluded from entering the United States; and of regulating any matters pertaining to such immigration.
SEC. 40. The authority is hereby given the Commissioner-General of immigration to establish; under the direction and control of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor; a division of information in the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization ; and the Secretary of Commerce and Labor shall provide such clerical assistance as may be necessary. It shall lie the duty of said division to promote a beneficial distribution of aliens admitted into the United States among the several States and
(910) Territories desiring immigration. Correspondence shall be had with the proper officials of the States and Territories; and said division shall gather from all available sources useful information regarding the resources; products; and physical characteristics of each State and Territory; and shall publish such information in different languages and distribute the publications among all admitted aliens who may ask for such information at the immigrant stations of the United States and to such other persons as may desire the same. When any State or Territory appoints and maintains an agent or agents to represent it at any of the immigrant stations of the United States; such agents shall; under regulations prescribed by the Commissioner-General of Immigration; subject to the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, have access to aliens who have been admitted to the United States for the purpose of presenting; either orally or in writing; the special inducements offered by such State or Territory to aliens to settle therein. While on duty at any immigrant station such agents shall be subject to all the regulations prescribed by the Commissioner-General of Immigration; who; with the approval of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, may; for violation of any such regulations; deny to the agent guilty of such violation any of the privileges herein granted.
SEC. 41. That nothing in this Act shall be construed to apply to accredited officials of foreign governments nor to their suites; families; or guests.
SEC. 42. It shall not be lawful for the master of a steamship or other vessel whereon immigrant passengers; or passengers other than cabin passengers; have been taken at any port or place in a foreign country or dominion (ports and places in foreign territory contiguous to the United States excepted) to bring such vessel and passengers to any port or place in the United States unless the compartments, spaces, and accommodations hereinafter mentioned have been provided; allotted, maintained; and used for and by such passengers during the entire voyage; that is to say; in a steamship; the compartments or spaces, unobstructed by cargo; stores; or goods; shall be of sufficient dimensions to allow for each and every passenger carried or brought therein eighteen clear superficial feet of deck allotted to his or her use; if the compartment or space is located on the main deck or on the first deck next below the main deck of the vessel; and twenty clear superficial feet of deck allotted to his or her use for each passenger carried or brought therein if the compartment or space is located on the second deck below the main deck of the vessel: Provided, That if the height between the lower passenger deck and the deck immediately above it is less than seven feet; or if the apertures (exclusive of the side scuttles) through which light and air are admitted together to the lower passenger deck are less in size than in the proportion of three square feet to every one hundred superficial feet of that deck, the ship shall not carry a greater number of passengers on that deck than in the proportion of one passenger to every thirty clear superficial feet thereof. It shall not be lawful to carry or bring passengers on any deck other than the decks above mentioned. And in sailing vessels such passengers shall be carried or brought only on the deck (not being an orlop deck) that is next below the main deck of the vessel, or in a poop or deck house constructed on the main deck; and the compartment or space, unobstructed by cargo; stores; or goods, shall be of sufficient dimensions to allow one hundred and ten cubic feet for each and every passenger brought therein. And such passengers shall not be carried or brought in any between decks. nor in any compartment; space; poop; or deck house, the height of which from deck to deck is less than six feet. In computing the number of such passengers carried or brought in any vessel; children under one,
(911) year of age shall not be included; and two children between one and eight years of age shall be counted as one passenger; and any person brought in any such vessel who shall have been; during the voyage; taken front any other vessel wrecked or in distress on the high seas; or have been picked up at sea from any boat; raft; or otherwise, shall not be included in such computation. The master of a vessel coming to a port or place in the United States in violation of either of the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor; and it' the number of passengers other than cabin passengers carried or brought in the vessel; or in any compartment; space; poop; or deck house thereof, is greater than the number allowed to be carried or brought therein, respectively; as hereinbefore prescribed, the said master shall be fined fifty dollars for each and every passenger in excess of the proper number, and may also be imprisoned not exceeding. six months.
This section shall take effect on January first; nineteen hundred and nine.
SEC. 43. That the Act of March third; nineteen hundred and three, being an Act to regulate the immigration of aliens into the United States, except section thirty-four thereof, and the Act of March twenty-second; nineteen hundred and four, being an Act to extend the exemption from head tax to citizens of Newfoundland entering the United States; and all Acts and parts of Acts inconsistent with this Act are hereby repealed: Provided; That this Act shall not be construed to repeal, or amend existing laws relating to the immigration or exclusion of Chinese persons or persons of Chinese descent; nor to repeal; alter; or amend section six; chapter four hundred and fifty-three; third session Fifty-eighth Congress; approved February sixth; nineteen hundred and five, or; prior to January first; nineteen hundred and nine, section one of the Act approved August second, eighteen hundred and eighty-two, entitled "An Act to regulate the carriage of passengers by sea."
SEC. 44. That this Act shall take effect and be enforced from and after July first, nineteen hundred and seven: Provided; however; That section thirty-nine of this Act and the last proviso of section one shall take effect upon the passage of this Act and section forty-two on January first; nineteen hundred and nine.
Approved; February 20, 1907.
