Immigration Act of 1907
The Immigration Act of 1907 was a significant piece of legislation in the United States aimed at regulating immigration amid growing concerns about its impact on society. Spearheaded by President Theodore Roosevelt, the act sought to tighten restrictions on those deemed undesirable immigrants, particularly focusing on individuals from Asia. It prohibited entry through Hawaii and doubled the immigration head tax, reflecting a shift towards more stringent immigration controls. This legislation expanded the categories of individuals excluded from entry, including contract laborers and those believed to be socially or morally subversive.
A notable aspect of the act was the establishment of the U.S. Immigration Commission, or Dillingham Commission, which was tasked with investigating immigration issues and recommending reforms. The commission's findings emphasized the importance of prioritizing the economic interests of American citizens over the needs of corporations that relied on immigrant labor. The act also included provisions to document passenger information for those departing the U.S., which was a pioneering step in immigration statistics. Moreover, it specifically targeted women by broadening definitions related to prostitution and imposed restrictions that adversely affected immigrant women, particularly those from Asian backgrounds. Overall, the Immigration Act of 1907 marked a pivotal change in the U.S. approach to immigration, reflecting the complexities of social, economic, and cultural dynamics of the time.
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Subject Terms
Immigration Act of 1907
The Law: Federal legislation regulating immigration
Date: Signed into law on February 20, 1907
Significance:This law created the Dillingham Commission to collect data used in future immigration laws, further narrowed Asian immigration, limited Muslim immigration, and expanded the definition of undesirable women immigrants.
In 1905, amid continuing concerns over increased immigration, President Theodore Roosevelt called upon the U.S. Congress to increase protection from unwanted immigration, especially in the nation’s largest cities, and to codify earlier legislation. Roosevelt and Congress sought to exclude immigrants who would not make good citizens. In February, 1907, Congress passed a new immigration act that expanded previous immigration restrictions by prohibiting Asians from entering the United States through the territory of Hawaii, doubled the immigration head tax to four dollars per person, broadened the excludable classes of immigrants to include contract labor and subversive and presumably immoral groups, and required ships to allow minimum amounts of deck space for each passenger and to provide manifests of their departing aliens.
Section 39 of the new law created the U.S. Immigration Commission—better known as the Dillingham Commission—to investigate immigration problems and their impact on the nation. The commission provided detailed reports to future Congresses regarding the need for refining immigration laws. The commission called on Congress to put the economic well-being of U.S. citizens above the needs of corporations that relied heavily on uneducated immigrants for cheap labor. The commission also favored further limiting immigration, implementing an alien literacy test, and continuing the Chinese exclusion policy and restricting Japanese and Korean immigration. The commissioners argued that Congress should limit the admission of unskilled aliens and implement a quota system.
The Immigration Act of 1907 was notable for several key innovations regarding immigration policy. Section 12 required ships with alien passengers departing the United States to provide complete lists of their passengers by name, age, sex, nationality, occupation, and place of residence in the United States. The information gathered through this law provided the first statistical documentation on alien departures. To combat the practice of polygamy and the keeping of concubines, the act expanded on the Immigration Act of 1891, which denied entry to polygamists, to include any persons who espoused these practices. The Ottoman Empire viewed these provisions as an attack on Islamic religious practices.
Women were a particular target of the 1907 law, which broadened the definition of prostitutes to include women arriving in the United States for any immoral purposes. The vague language of the law was used to exclude women in arranged marriages, especially those of Asian origin, and allowed for their deportation. Responding to concerns of progressive reformers, the act tightened laws targeting immigrant women suspected of being recruited to work as prostitutes. It also permitted the deportation of women who lived in known houses of prostitution or who had practiced prostitution within three years of their entering the United States. This was the first statutory provision authorizing deportation based on criminal conduct within the United States.
Bibliography
Abrams, Kerry. “Polygamy, Prostitution, and the Federalization of Immigration Law.” Columbia Law Review 105, no. 3 (2005): 641-716. Examination of the role marriage played in the development of immigration laws regarding women and Muslims.
Cott, Nancy F. Public Vows: A History of Marriage and the Nation. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2000. Thoroughly researched account of the evolution of marriage in American legal and social practice.
Hutchinson, Edward P. Legislative History of American Immigration Policy, 1798-1965. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1981. Survey of congressional actions on immigration, examining specific elements of those policies.