On 3rd August, 1882, the US Congress passed a new Immigration Act that stated that a 50 cents tax would be levied on all aliens landing at United States ports. The money collected was to be used to defray the expenses of regulating immigration and for the care of immigrants after landing. The legislation also gave powers to the authorities to deny entry to "convicts (except those convicted of political offenses), lunatics, idiots and persons likely to become public charges".The head tax money was also used to pay the federal immigration agents, and independent immigration agencies throughout the United States.

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