Shortly after the U.S. Civil War, some states started to pass their own immigration laws, which prompted the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in 1875 that immigration was a federal responsibility.[31] In 1875, the nation passed its first immigration law, the Page Act of 1875, also known as the Asian Exclusion Act, outlawing the importation of Asian contract laborers, any Asian woman who would engage in prostitution, and all people considered to be convicts in their own countries.[32]
Prior to 1890, the individual states, rather than the Federal government, regulated immigration into the United States.[35] The Immigration Act of 1891 established a Commissioner of Immigration in the Treasury Department.[36] The Canadian Agreement of 1894 extended U.S. immigration restrictions to Canadian ports.