Section 20 Provided That an Alien Entering in Violation of Law or

becoming a public charge from causes existing prior to landing should, upon the warrant of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, be taken into custody and deported to the country from whence he came at any time within three years after the date of his entry into the United States. The cost of this removal was to be a charge upon the owners of the vessel or transportation line immediately responsible. When the mental or physical condition of the alien was such as to require personal care or attention, the Secretary of Commerce and Labor was authorized to employ a suitable person for that purpose. This was a great step in advance. There were, however, some very great difficulties to be overcome. The force placed at the disposal of the Public Health Service for the inspection and examination of incoming immigrants was entirely inadequate and one or two men were sometimes responsible for the examination of several thousands aliens in a day. This was, of course, impossible. The burden of proof in showing that the mental condition was due to causes existing prior to landing, furthermore, devolved upon the persons requesting deportation. It was impossible in many instances to submit actual proof even where there could be no reasonable doubt as to the facts. This led to great difficulties and much dissatisfaction. Another serious objection to the provisions of this law was the requirement that only such persons could be deported as were likely to become a public charge. In many instances such persons were supported by private funds until they were no longer deportable, after which they became a burden upon the state in which they resided.

These conditions were much improved by the action of the Sixty-fourth Congress in 1917. This definitely excluded "all idiots, imbeciles, feebleminded persons, epileptics, insane persons; persons who have had one or more attacks of insanity at any time previously; persons of constitutional psychopathic inferiority," etc., or "persons not comprehended within any of the foregoing excluded classes who are found to be and are certified by the examining surgeons as being mentally or physically defective" or persons likely to become a public charge.