Immigration Restriction Efforts, 1875 - 1913

1. HIS 206 Immigration Restriction Efforts, 1875 - 1913

2. Initial Efforts • Immigration Act of 1882 followed model of earlier state laws struck down in Henderson v. Mayor of New York (1876) • Barred entry to lunatics, idiots & persons likely to become a public charge • Imposed 50-cent head tax • Secretary of Treasury supervised, but state officials still administed • Foran Alien Contract Labor Act (1885) forbade all contracts to prepay or assist immigrants’ passage to U.S. • Artists, actors, lecturers, domestic servants & skilled laborers excepted • Americans still allowed to help relatives or personal friends • Payson Act (1887) barred aliens who hadn’t filed first papers from owning land in the territories

3. Distinguishing Between “Old” & “New” Immigrants • House est. Ford Committee (1888-89) to investigate immigration • Report said facilities & staff at ports inadequate to inspect immigrants properly • Found evidence of assisted immigration for paupers & convicts, & contract labor law easily evaded • Warned current immigrants inferior to previous ones & called for exclusion of anarchists & “birds of passage” • Ford Committee report = first time Congress distinguished between old & new immigrants • “old” immigrants hailed as pioneers who settled as families on the land, assimilated & became citizens • “new” immigrants were single men who worked in factories, lived in slums, & were less intelligent & more degenerate

4. The “New” Immigrants

5. Immigration Patterns, 1910-1920

6. Federal Takeover of Immigration Inspection • Immigration Act of 1891 created federal Bureau of Immigration in Treasury Dept. to oversee inspection & enforcement of laws • New federal facilities (e.g. Ellis Island) constructed • Persons suffering from loathsome or contagious disease & polygamists excluded • Provided for deportation of aliens who entered illegally or became public charges within 1 year of arrival • 1891 act gave sole power to review decisions on admission & deportation to Superintendant & Secretary of Treasury • Supreme Court ruled in Nishimura Ekiu v. U.S. (1892) that courts couldn’t review inspectors’ findings of fact, only interpretations of laws • Court ruled in Fong Yue Ting v. U.S. (1893) that due process didn’t apply to administrative hearings

7. Ellis Island

8. Inspection for Restriction • 1893 act required commanding officers of vessels to conduct preliminary investigation of passengers • 1894 act raised head tax to $1 to defray increased expense of inspection • Edward Bemis & Richmond Mayo Smith called for literacy test to keep out “new” immigrants • Henry Cabot Lodge (R-Mass) introduced literacy test bills in Congress, calling for exclusion of inferior races • Immigration Restriction League founded in 1894 by Prescott F. Hall & Robert DeCourcy Ward to lobby for literacy test Sen. Lodge Prescott F. Hall

9. Nativism • Immigrants blamed for evils of urban, industrial America • Conservatives claimed they were labor radicals – socialists, anarchists • Unions saw them as strikebreakers • Social workers decried their unsanitary living conditions • Academics claimed they were racially inferior • TR warned of danger of “race suicide” • Henry F. Bowers founded anti-Catholic American Protective Association in 1880s • Sons & Daughters of the American Revolution tried to “Americanize” immigrants by teaching them about U.S. history & gov’t The Ram’s Horn, April 25, 1896

10. Eugenics • Francis Galton coined term to describe scientific study of human genetics with goal of selectively breeding a better human race • Influential in U.S. from 1905-1930 • Appealed to middle class as explanation for incorrigible poor & delinquent • Charles Davenport set up Eugenics Record Office at Cold Spring Harbor, NY in 1910 • funded by Carnegie Institute & Harrimans • Davenport & assistant Harry Laughlin collected data on how various characteristics were transmitted • Worked with Hall & Ward of IRL to pass immigration restriction

11. Flaws in Eugenics Research • Difficulty of defining traits • Reification – treating complex behaviors as single entities with single causes (e.g., intelligence) • Poor survey & statistical methods • False quantification • Ignoring social & environmental influences William Ripley’s Map of European Races BasedOn Cephalic Index

12. Sterilization & Birth Control • 33 states passed forced sterilization laws • Over 60,000 involuntarily sterilized • Upheld by Supreme Court in Buck v. Bell (1927) • Sterilization of criminals declared unconstitutional in Skinner v. Oklahoma (1942) • Margaret Sanger & other eugenicists also pushed for abortion & birth control to prevent poor from breeding

13. Sterilization Statistics

14. Passing the Literacy Test- First Attempt • Lodge introduced literacy test bill to Congress in 1896 • Based on 25-word passages from U.S. Constitution • Limited to English or language of native country • Richard Bartholdt tried to sabotage it in House, but still passed • Pes. Grover Cleveland vetoed it in 1897, calling it “radical departure” from tradition of asylum • House voted to override; Senate did not Richard Bartholdt, R-MO

15. Theodore Roosevelt & Immigration • Industrial Commission (1898-1901) recommended: • raising head tax to $3 • Inspecting cabin passengers & at land borders • Excluding & deporting anarchists • Extending statute of limitations on deportations to 5 years • Penalizing steamship co.s for transporting diseased aliens • Pres. Theodore Roosevelt pushed for comprehensive policy to select “good” immigrants & screen out “bad” ones • Suggested exclusion of anarchists & immoral persons • Recommended literacy test & monetary requirement

16. 1903 & 1907 Immigration Acts • 1903 Immigration Act reorganized legislation • Head tax raised to $2 • Inspection at land border crossings • Aliens could be deported up to 3 years after arrival • Steamship co.s fined for bringing inadmissible aliens & required to transport them back home • 1907 Immigration Act raised head tax & monetary requirement • Speaker Joseph Cannon fiercely opposed literacy test • Conference committee dropped literacy test in exchange for Japanese amendment • created U.S. Immigration Commission to study issue

17. The Dillingham Commission • U.S. Immigration Commission chaired by Vt. Sen. William P. Dillingham • All members except Congressman William Bennett (R-NY) committed to literacy test • Issued 42-volume report in 1911 • Dillingham Report accepted distinction between “old” & “new” immigrants • Economic motivation of “birds of passage” proved U.S. was no longer asylum for oppressed • Found existing laws worked well • Crime & poverty rates lower than expected • Franz Boas’ research contradicted eugenicists • Recommendations: • Literacy test • Better distribution of immigrants • Exclusion of “birds of passage” Sen. Dillingham William W. Husband

18. Passing the Literacy Test – Second Attempt • Dillingham submitted literacy test bill in Senate in 1912 • Senate bill based on U.S. Constitution • John L. Burnett (D-AL) introduced House bill based on words in common usage • Secretary of Commerce & Labor Charles Nagel opposed • Became issue in 1912 presidential campaign • TR’s Progressive party staked out liberal position on immigration • Wilson dogged by earlier negative comments about “new” immigrants in his History of the American People (1902) • Taft opposed literacy test as revival of Know-Nothing spirit • Taft vetoed bill in 1913 • Conference committee backed House version • Taft’s veto message quoted Nagel’s objections • Override fell 5 votes short in House Pres. Taft Charles Nagel