The
Chinese Exclusion Act
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Treaty Regulating
Immigration from China
November 17, 1880
(Malloy, ed. Treaties,
Conventions, etc. Vol. I, p. 237 ff.)
Whereas the Government
of the United States, because of the constantly increasing immigration
of Chinese laborers to the territory of the United States, and the embarrassments
consequent upon such immigration, now desires to negotiate a modification
of the existing Treaties which shall not be in direct contravention
of their spirit: . . .
ART. I. Whenever in the
opinion of the Government of the United States, the coming of Chinese
laborers to the United States, or their residence therein, affects or
threatens to affect the interests of that country, or to endanger the
good order of the said country or of any locality within the territory
thereof, the Government of China agrees that the Government of the United
States may regulate, limit, or suspend such coming or residence, but
may not absolutely prohibit it. The limitation or suspension shall be
reasonable and shall apply only to Chinese who may go to the United
States as laborers, other classes not being included in the limitations.
Legislation taken in regard to Chinese laborers will be of such a character
only as is necessary to enforce the regulation, limitation or suspension
of immigration, and immigrants shall not be subject to personal maltreatment
or abuse.
ART. II. Chinese subjects,
whether proceeding to the United States as teachers, students, merchants,
or from curiosity, together with their body and household servants,
and Chinese laborers who are now in the United States, shall be allowed
to go and come of their own free will and accord, and shall be accorded
all the rights, privileges, immunities and exemptions which are accorded
to the citizens and subjects of the most favored nation.
ART. III. If Chinese laborers,
or Chinese of any other class, now either permanently or temporarily
residing in the territory of the United States, meet with ill treatment
at the hands of any other persons, the Government of the United States
will exert all its power to devise measures for their protection and
to secure to them the same rights, privileges, immunities and exemptions
as may be enjoyed by the citizens or subjects of the most favored nation,
and to which they are entitled by treaty
Chinese
Exclusion Act
May 6, 1882
(U. S. Statutes at Large,
Vol. XXII, p. 58 ff.)
An act to execute certain
treaty stipulations relating to Chinese.
WHEREAS, in the opinion
of the Government of the United States the coming of Chinese laborers
to this country endangers the good order of certain localities within
the territory thereof: Therefore,
Be it enacted, That from
and after the expiration of ninety days next after the passage of this
act, and until the expiration of ten years next after the passage of
this act, the coming of Chinese laborers to the Untied States be, .
. . suspended; and during such suspension it shall not be lawful for
any Chinese laborer to come, or, having so come after the expiration
of said ninety days, to remain within the United States.
SEC. 2. That the master
of any vessel who shall knowingly bring within the United States on
such vessel, and land or permit to be landed, any Chinese laborer, from
any foreign port or place, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor,
and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than
five hundred dollars for each and every such Chinese laborer so brought,
and may be also imprisoned for a term not exceeding one year.
SEC. 3. That the two foregoing
sections shall not apply to Chinese laborers who were in the United
States on the seventeenth day of November, eighteen hundred and eighty,
or who shall have come into the same before the expiration of ninety
days next after the passage of this act, . . .
SEC. 6. That in order to
the faithful execution of articles one and two of the treaty in this
act before mentioned, every Chinese person other than a laborer who
may be entitled by said treaty and this act to come within the United
States, and who shall be about to come to the United States, shall be
identified as so entitled by the Chinese Government in each case, such
identity to be evidenced by a certificate issued under the authority
of said government, which certificate shall be in the English language
or (if not in the English language) accompanied by a translation into
English, stating such right to come, and which certificate shall state
the name, title, or official rank, if any, the age, height, and all
physical peculiarities former and present occupation or profession and
place of residence in China of the person to whom the certificate is
issued and that such person is entitled conformably to the treaty in
this act mentioned to come within the Untied States. . . .
SEC. 12. That no Chinese
person shall be permitted to enter the United States by land without
producing to the proper office of customs the certificate in this act
required of Chinese persons seeking to land from a vessel. Any Chinese
person found unlawfully within the United States shall be caused to
be removed therefrom to the country from whence he came, by direction
of the President of the United States, and at the cost of the United
States, after being brought before some justice, judge, or commissioner
of a court of the United States and found to be one not lawfully entitled
to be or remain in the United States.
SEC. 13. That this act
shall not apply to diplomatic and other officers of the Chinese Government
traveling upon the business of that government, whose credentials shall
be taken as equivalent to the certificate in this act mentioned, and
shall exempt them and their body and household servants from the provisions
of this act as to other Chinese persons.
SEC. 14. That hereafter
no State court or court of the United States shall admit Chinese to
citizenship; and all laws in conflict with this act are hereby repealed.
SEC. 15. That the words
"Chinese laborers," whenever used in this act, shall be construed
to mean both skilled and unskilled laborers and Chinese employed in
mining.
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