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 by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in
Congress assembled, 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 United States be, and the same is hereby, 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 $500 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 17th day of November, 1880, or who shall have come into the same
before the expiration of ninety days next after the passage of this act...
SEC. 4. That for the purpose of properly identifying Chinese laborers who were in the
United States on the 17th day of November, 1880, or who shall have come into the same before
the expiration of ninety days next after the passage of this act, and in order to furnish them with
the proper evidence of their right to go from and come to the United States of their free will and
accord, as provided by the treaty between the United States and China dated November 17, 1880,
the collector of customs of the district from which any such Chinese laborer shall depart from the
United States shall, in person or by deputy, go on board each vessel having on board any such
Chinese laborer and cleared or about to sail from his district for a foreign port, and on such vessel
make a list of all such Chinese laborers, which shall be entered in registry-books to be kept for
that purpose, in which shall be stated the name, age, occupation, last place of residence, physical
marks or peculiarities, and all facts necessary for the identification of each of such Chinese
laborers, which books shall be safely kept in the custom-house; and every such Chinese laborer so
departing from the United States shall be entitled to, and shall receive, free of any charge or cost
upon application therefor, from the collector or his deputy, at the time such list is taken a
certificate, signed by the collector or his deputy and attested by his seal of office, in such form as
the Secretary of the Treasury shall prescribe, which certificate shall contain a statement of the
name, age, occupation, last place of residence, personal description, and facts of identification of
the Chinese laborer to whom the certificate is issued, corresponding with the said list and registry
in all particulars...
SEC. 5. That any Chinese laborer mentioned in section four of this act being in the
United States, and desiring to depart from the United States by land, shall have the right to
demand and receive, free of charge or cost, a certificate of identification similar to that provided
for in section four of this act to be issued to such Chinese laborers as may desire to leave the
United States by water; and it is hereby made the duty of the collector of customs of the district
next adjoining the foreign country to which said Chinese laborer desires to go to issue such
certificate, free of charge or cost, upon application by such Chinese laborer, and to enter the same
upon registry-books to be kept by him for the purpose, as provided for in section four 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 United
States...
SEC. 7. That any person who shall knowingly and falsely alter or substitute any name for
the name written in such certificate or forge any such certificate, or knowingly utter any forged or
fraudulent certificate, or falsely personate any person named in any such certificate, shall be
deemed guilty of a misdemeanor; and upon conviction thereof shall be fined in a sum not
exceeding $1,000, and imprisoned in a penitentiary for a term of not more than five years.
SEC. 8. That the master of any vessel arriving in the United States from any foreign port
or place shall, at the same time he delivers a manifest of the cargo, and if there be no cargo, then
at the time of making a report, of the entry of the vessel pursuant to law, in addition to the other
matter required to be reported, and before landing, or permitting to land, any Chinese passengers,
deliver and report to the collector of customs of the district in which such vessels shall have
arrived a separate list of all Chinese passengers taken on board his vessel at any foreign port or
place, and all such passengers on board the vessel at that time...
SEC. 9. That before any Chinese passengers are landed from any such vessel, the
collector, or his deputy, shall proceed to examine such passengers, comparing the certificates with
the list and with the passengers; and no passenger shall be allowed to land in the United States
from such vessel in violation of law...
SEC. 11. That any person who shall knowingly bring into or cause to be brought into the
United States by land, or who shall knowingly aid or abet the same, or aid or abet the landing in
the United States from any vessel of any Chinese person not lawfully entitled to enter the United
states, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, on conviction thereof, be fined in a
sum not exceeding $1,000, and imprisoned for a term not exceeding one year.
SEC. 12. That no Chinese person shall be permitted to enter the United States by land
without producing to the proper officer of customs the certificate in this act required of Chinese
persons seeking to land from a vessel...
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 he words "Chinese laborers," wherever used in this act, shall be construed
to mean both skilled and unskilled laborers and Chinese employed in mining.
Approved, May 6, 1882.
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