On the Atlantic. when the men could not get Into the country In the regular way through Ellis Island. they took passage on vessels under one pretense or another. and upon arrival in the United States they walked ashore to mingle in the population. Vessels have been known to come with 400 In a crew and leave with 250. to come with 200 and leave with 150. and so on. The Secretary of Labor tried to stop this violation of the immigration laws by providing for bonds-$500. The excluded Chinese furnished the bonds and vanished In the population. thus converting the bonds Into a $500 head tax. In Atlantic ports this matter was taken into the court. and the court decided that the Secretary had no such power . but the demand for bonds was continued and men were refused permission to land. The question was then taken into court on writ of habeas corpus. and the court dismissed the men from the ship. stating amongst other things. that the Department of Labor had no power. nor was it a decent proposal. to convert a ship into a private prison in a port of the United States.
Keywords matched
immigration head tax