IMMIGRATION LAWS. The act of March 3, 1903, was comprehensive and superseded almost entirely the previous legislation, and that act was in turn superseded by the act of February 20, 1907. It provided for a tax of four dollars for every alien entering tbe United States, which is to go into an "Im migrant Fund" to defray the expense of regulating immigration, etc. This tax is a lien upon the vessel or other means of car riage. It is not levied upon aliens who shall enter after an uninterrupted residence of at least one year Immediately preceding such entering in Canada, Cuba, Newfoundland or Mexico, nor upon otherwise admissible resi dents of any United States possession, nor aliens in transit, nor aliens passing from one part of the United States to another through foreign contiguous territory.
Among the classes excluded are Idiots, im beciles, epileptics, feeble minded, and insane persons who have been insane within five years previous or who have had two or more attacks of insanity at any time previ ously, paupers and those likely to become a public charge, professional beggars, those afflicted with tuberculosis or with a loath some or dangerous contagious disease, men tally or physically defective persons, such defect being of a nature which may affect their ability to earn a living, those convicted of a felony or other crime or misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or admitting that they had committed the same, persons ad mitting their belief in polygamy, anarchists, prostitutes or women or girls coming here for the purpose of prostitution or any other immoral purpose, those supported in whole or in part by the proceeds of prostitution, those who procure or attempt to bring in prostitutes or women for such purposes, con tract laborers, persons who within a year have been deported as having been induced to migrate as above, those whose ticket or passage is paid for by money of another or who are assisted to come here, children un der sixteen unaccompanied by one or both parents, at the discretion of the Secretary, but not persons convicted of an offense pure ly political, not involving moral turpitude, nor aliens passing through the country to foreign contiguous territory, nor skilled la bor if such kind unemployed cannot be found in this country. Contract labor does not in
clude professional actors, artists, lecturers, singers, ministers, professors and those be longing to any recognized learned profes sion, or personal or domestic servants. Sec tion 3 applies to the importation of aliens for prostitution, etc. Section 4 provides that no corporation, etc., shall prepay the trans portation or in any other way assist in the importation of contract laborers unless be longing to the above excepted classes. By section 6, encouraging immigration by ad vertising abroad with promise of employ ment is forbidden. Masters of vessels bring ing in aliens are required to furnish to the immigration officer full lists of alien pas sengers. Amended March 26, 1910.
See ALIEN; CHINESE; DEPORTATION.
But where a Chinese person claimed citi zenship and had been arbitrarily denied such a hearing as the exclusion acts demand, it was held that a writ of habeas corpus should be granted by the federal courts ; Chin Yow v. U. S., 208 U. S. 8, 28 Sup. Ct. 201, 52 L. Ed. 369. See LEGISLATIVE POWER.