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THE IMMIGRATION LAW OF 1907

In the first session of the Fifty-ninth Congress, following the popular demand for the further regulation of alien immigration, several bills were introduced and bills were passed by both the Senate and House, but were not finally enacted into law until the second session of that Congress. A bill introduced by Senator Dillingham, of Vermont, which provided for some important administrative changes in the immigration act of 1903, was reported from the Senate committee, March 29, 1906. This bill, as reported, proposed several changes in the law. The head tax on immigrants was increased from $2 to $5; imbeciles, feeble-minded persons, unaccompanied children under 17 years of age, and persons "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 aliens to earn a living," were added to the excluded classes;, the provision of existing law excluding prostitutes was amended to include "women or girls coming into the United States for the purpose of prostitution, or for any other immoral purpose"; steamship companies were required to furnish lists of outgoing passengers; and the creation of a division of information in the Bureau of Immigration was authorized.

In the Senate the bill was amended by the insertion of a literacy test which provided for the exclusion from the United States of "all persons over sixteen years of age and physically capable of reading, who can not read the English language or some other language; but an admissible immigrant or a person

now in or hereafter admitted to this country may bring in or send for his wife, his children under 18 years of age, and his parents or grandparents over fifty years of age, if they are otherwise admissible, whether they are able to read or not." The bill as amended, passed the Senate May 23, 1906, and in the House was referred to the Committee on Immigration and Naturalization. This committee recommended the substitution of a House bill which, however, did not differ materially from that of the Senate. The head tax provision was the same, and the additions to the excluded classes practically so. A literacy test similar to that of the Senate was also included. The bill as originally reported by the House committee also provided for the exclusion of every adult male who had not $25 in his possession, and every female alien and every male alien under 16 years of age not possest of $15, provided that $50 in the possession of the head of the family would be considered a sufficient amount for all members of such family, except grown sons.

In a subsequent bill and report, presented June 11, 1906, however, the money qualification feature was omitted. The reports of the House Committee were accompanied by a minority report, signed by two members of the committee, Mr. Bennet and Mr. Ruppert, both of New York, in which the increased head tax and the educational test provisions were disagreed to. In the House of Representatives the bill was amended by striking out the increased head-tax provision and the provision for a literacy test, by inserting a section creating the Immigration Commission, and by adopting the so-called Littauer amendment, which provided as follows:

That an immigrant who proves that he is seeking admission to this country solely to avoid prosecution or punishment on religious or political grounds, for any offense of a political character, or prosecution involving danger of punishment, or danger to life or limb on account of religious belief, shall not be deported because of want of means or the probability of his being unable to earn a livelihood.

In conference between the two Houses the Senate receded from its provision relative to a literacy test; the House receded from the Littauer amendment; the head-tax provision was compromised by making it $4 instead of $5, as provided by the Senate, and $2 as provided by the House; the House amendment creating the Immigration Commission was agreed to with an amendment, which provided that the Commission should consist of three Senators, three members of the House of Representatives, and three persons to be appointed by the President of the United States; instead of two Senators, three members of the House, and two citizen members, as was provided in the House amendment. The Commission was directed to make a complete investigation and to report its findings to Congress. The President was also authorized at his discretion to call an international conference for the purpose of regulating immigration.

The conferees also added a new section (Sec. 42) to the bill amending Section 1 of the passenger act of 1882 relative to air space allotted steerage passengers, and amended Section 1 of the immigration bill under consideration by inserting the following provision:

That whenever the President shall be satisfied that passports issued by any 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.

Later this provision of law was utilized for the purpose of excluding Japanese and Korean laborers from the United States. This bill was approved February 20, 1907, and is the present law upon the subject of immigration.

Legislation for the Suppression of the White-slave

Traffic

By the act of March 26, 1910, sections two and three of the immigration law of February 20, 1907, were amended to prevent more effectively the importation of women and girls for immoral purposes and their control by importers and others after their admission to the United States, following recommendations of the Immigration Commission on that subject.

By the act of March 26th the following were added to the classes excluded by Section 2 of the Immigration Act: "Persons who are supported by or receive in full or in part the proceeds of prostitution." Under the terms of the act of 1907 "women or girls coming into the United States for the purpose of prostitution or for any other immoral purpose," were specifically excluded from the United States. Under that law, however, there was no specific provision for the exclusion of that particularly reprehensible class of persons referred to in the act of March 26,

1910. By the amendment of Section 3 of the law of 1907, additional means were provided for the punishment and deportation of aliens who in any way profited or derived benefit from the proceeds of prostitution. The agitation of the white-slave traffic in Congress also resulted in the enactment of a law prohibiting the importation of persons from one State to another for the purposes of prostitution, and punishing severely those engaged in the traffic.

Chinese Immigration Laws and Treaties

As early as 1862 the Pacific coast States and cities attempted to restrict Chinese immigration, but their regulations were declared unconstitutional. Recourse was then had to the Federal Government.

The first treaty in which emigration from China to the United States was considered was the Burlingame treaty, proclaimed July 28, 1868. Sections 5 and 6 of that treaty state the position of the United States respecting the rights of Chinese in this country. The inherent and inalienable right of man to change his home and allegiance, and also the mutual advantage of the free migration and emigration of their citizens and subjects, respectively, from the one country to the other, for the purpose of curiosity or trade, or as permanent residents, were recognized, but "any other than an entirely voluntary emigration" was reprobated. The attitude of the United States as exprest in this treaty was not popular in the Pacific States, however, and these States continued their efforts to secure legislation restricting the further immigration of the Chinese.

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