"[24] The enforcement of the laws comes into operation at the
ports of entry. Practically everything depends upon the intelligence and
faithfulness of the inspectors, who are charged with grave
responsibility. Immigrant and country are equally at their mercy.
Necessarily a large margin must be left to their judgment when it comes
to the question, Will the applicant now before me probably become a
public charge--that is, fall into the pauper or criminal class--or is he
of the right stuff to make a respectable and desirable American citizen?
In cases of plain insanity or idiocy or disease the decision is easy;
but when it comes to the moral and economic sphere an expert opinion is
required. Then, the inspectors have to be constantly on the lookout for
deception and fraud. Immigrants who belong to the excluded classes have
been carefully coached by agents interested in getting them through the
examination. Diseased eyes have been doctored up for the occasion; lame
persons have been trained to avoid the fatal limp during that walk
between the two surgeons. Lies have been put into innocent mouths and
the beginnings of falsehood into the heart. Mr. Adams gives this
instance showing how the mind of the inspector works.
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