State and Local Immigration Regulation in the United States before 1882

The absence of significant federal regulation in the area of immigration legislation until 1882 no more denotes a laissez-faire approach in this area than in many other aspects of American economic life. For many generations Congress had left the task of regulating the immigrant stream to the states and localities. The first general federal law (1882) is best understood in the context of antecedent activity on the local level. Eventually most of the seaboard states, including many without an important passenger traffic, enacted statutes dealing with immigration. Table I presents a brief outline of their essential features.