The Immigration Act of 1903 expanded the federal government’s power to regulate immigration. In this piece of legislation, Congress codified immigration law and refined the existing classes of inadmissible immigrants. Of even greater significance to the history of immigration was the act’s creation of two new inadmissible classes: The first covered immigrants involved in prostitution, and the second dealt with anarchists.
Much of the Immigration Act of 1903 dealt with preexisting immigration law. In this new act, Congress codified immigration law and increased the tax on immigrants entering the United States, excluding Canadians and Mexicans. The law refined the federal regulation of poor immigrants by amending the contract labor and public charge provisions; it also extended the time limit on deporting aliens in most inadmissible classes from one to three years. In addition, Congress added
1903[02580]
None of the immigration laws passed between 1875 and 1902 explicitly provided for the deportation of prostitutes. The
The Immigration Act of 1903 made immigrants excludable on political grounds for the first time by adding anarchists to the list of inadmissible classes. Responding to public fears about anarchists, which were heightened by the assassination of President
Chan, Sucheng. “The Exclusion of Chinese Women, 1870-1943.” In Entry Denied: Exclusion and the Chinese Community in America, 1882-1943. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1991. Langum, David J. Crossing over the Line: Legislating Morality and the Mann Act. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994. Preston, William, Jr. Aliens and Dissenters: Federal Suppression of Radicals, 1903-1933. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 1963.
Congress, U.S.
Espionage and Sedition Acts of 1917-1918
History of immigration after 1891
Immigration Act of 1891
Immigration Act of 1907
Immigration Act of 1917
Immigration law
Industrial Workers of the World
Page Law of 1875
Progressivism
Women immigrants