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U.S. Statutes at Large
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Historical SummaryA BILL to prohibit the coming of Chinese and persons of Chinese descent into the United States, and to regulate the residence of Chinese therein, was introduced in the House, January 18, 1902, by Julius Kahn of California, and referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. The immediate occasion of the bill was the approaching expiration, by limitation, of the "Geary act" of 1892. A substitute bill, reported by James B. Perkins of New York, March 26, was followed, April 1, by another substitute bill and a minority report filed by Champ Clark of Missouri. The substitute bill of the committee was taken up April 4, and on the 7th passed the House, with amendments, without a division. The Senate Committee on Immigration reported the bill without amendment, but on April 17 a bill on the same subject, introduced January 16 by John H. Mitchell of Oregon, and passed by the Senate April 16, was substituted for the House bill and the bill was passed. Two conference committees were necessary before the bill received its final form. The report of the second conference committee was accepted by both houses April 28, and the next day the act was approved. REFERENCES. — Text in U. S. Stat. at Large, XXXII., Part I, 176, 177. For the debates see the Cong. Record, 57th Cong., 1st Sess.; a summary statement of the differences between the reports of the first and second conference committees is in ibid., p. 4709. The Perkins report is House Report 1231. On the Mitchell substitute, said to embody the views of Pacific Coast senators and representatives, see Senate Report 776. The most important work on the general subject is Coolidge, Chinese Immigration (1909).
No. 190.
Chinese Exclusion Act
April 29, 1902
An Act To prohibit the coming into and to regulate the residence within the United States, its Territories, and all territory under its jurisdiction, and the District of Columbia, of Chinese and persons of Chinese descent.
Be it enacted . . . , That all laws now in force prohibiting and regulating the coming of Chinese persons, and persons of Chinese descent, into the United States, and the residence of such persons therein . . . . be, and the same are hereby, reenacted, extended, and continued so far as the same are not inconsistent with treaty obligations, until otherwise provided by law, and said laws shall also apply to the island territory under the jurisdiction of the United States, and prohibit the immigration of Chinese laborers, not citizens of the United States, from such island territory to the mainland territory of the United States, whether in such island territory at the time of cession or not, and from one portion of the island territory of the United States to another portion of said island territory: Provided, however, That said laws shall not apply to the transit of Chinese laborers from one island to another island of the same group; and any islands within the jurisdiction of any State or the District of Alaska shall be considered a part of the mainland under this section.
SEC. 2. That the Secretary of the Treasury is hereby authorized and empowered to make and prescribe, and from time to time to change, such rules and regulations not inconsistent with the laws of the land as he may deem necessary and proper to execute the provisions of this Act and of the Acts hereby. extended and continued and of the treaty of . . . [December 8, 1894,] . . . between the United States and China, and with the approval of the President to appoint such agents as he may deem necessary for the efficient execution of said treaty and said Acts.
SEC. 3. That nothing in the provisions of this Act or any other Act shall be construed to prevent, hinder, or restrict any foreign exhibitor, representative, or citizen of any foreign nation, or the holder, who is a citizen of any foreign nation, of any concession or privilege from any fair or exposition authorized by Act of Congress from bringing into the United States, under contract, such mechanics, artisans, agents, or other employees, datives of their respective foreign countries, as they or any of them may deem necessary for the purpose of making preparation for installing or conducting their exhibits or of preparing for installing or conducting any business authorized or permitted under or by virtue of or pertaining to any concession or privilege which may have been or may be granted by any said fair or exposition in connection with such exposition, under such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Treasury may prescribe, both as to the admission and return of such person or persons.
SEC. 4. That it shall be the duty of every Chinese laborer, other than a citizen, rightfully in, and entitled to remain in any of the insular territory of the United States (Hawaii excepted) at the time of the passage of this Act, to obtain within one year thereafter a certificate of residence in the insular territory wherein he resides, which certificate shall entitle him to residence therein, and upon failure to obtain such certificate as herein provided he shall be deported from such insular territory; and the Philippine Commission is authorized and required to make all regulations and provisions necessary for the enforcement of this section in the Philippine Islands, including the form and substance of the certificate of residence so that the same shall clearly and sufficiently identify the holder thereof and enable officials to prevent fraud in the transfer of the same . . .
Approved, April 29, 1902.
Contents:
Chicago: "Chinese Exclusion Act," U.S. Statutes at Large in Documentary Source Book of American History, 1606-1913, ed. William MacDonald (1863-1938) (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1916), 617–618. Original Sources, accessed April 19, 2024, http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=KR1V4UEJQMFTN6Z.
MLA: . "Chinese Exclusion Act." U.S. Statutes at Large, in Documentary Source Book of American History, 1606-1913, edited by William MacDonald (1863-1938), New York, The Macmillan Company, 1916, pp. 617–618. Original Sources. 19 Apr. 2024. http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=KR1V4UEJQMFTN6Z.
Harvard: , 'Chinese Exclusion Act' in U.S. Statutes at Large. cited in 1916, Documentary Source Book of American History, 1606-1913, ed. , The Macmillan Company, New York, pp.617–618. Original Sources, retrieved 19 April 2024, from http://www.originalsources.com/Document.aspx?DocID=KR1V4UEJQMFTN6Z.
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