Page Act of 1875

The Page Act of 1875 (18 Stat. 477, 3 March 1875), was an act which prohibited the immigration of anyone from Asia who was involved in forced labor, any woman from Asia who was involved in prostitution, and anyone from anywhere who was convicted of a criminal offense in their country of origin. The Page Act was at the time of enactment the newest restrictive federal immigration and nationality law passed by Congress since the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

The law was named after its sponsor, Representative Horace F. Page, a Republican representing California who introduced it to "end the danger of cheap Chinese labor and immoral Chinese women." The Page Act was supposed to strengthen the ban against "coolie" laborers, by imposing a fine of up to $2,000 and maximum jail sentence of one year upon anyone who tried to bring a person from Asia to the United States "without their free and voluntary consent, for the purpose of holding them to a term of service."

Only the ban on female East Asian immigrants was effectively and heavily enforced and proved to be a barrier for all East Asian women trying to immigrate, especially Chinese women. Moreover, the Page Act created the policing of immigrants around sexuality, which "gradually became extended to every immigrant who sought to enter America" and has remained a central feature of immigration restriction, according to some scholars.

In 1875, President Ulysses Grant delivered a Seventh Annual Message to the United States Senate and House of Representatives. President Grant reaffirmed the United States bearing regarding the immigration of women originating from the Far East.

While this is being done I invite the attention of Congress to another, though perhaps no less an evil—the importation of Chinese women, but few of whom are brought to our shores to pursue honorable or useful occupations.

Ulysses S. Grant

December 7, 1875