Henderson v. Mayor of the City of New York
"Henderson v. Mayor of the City of New York" is a pivotal U.S. Supreme Court case addressing the intersection of state powers and federal authority over immigration and commerce. The case emerged during a period of heightened concern about immigration in the post-Civil War era, when states like New York and Louisiana sought to levy taxes on immigrants arriving by ship. These states argued that requiring ships to post bonds for each passenger was a legitimate exercise of their police powers rather than a regulation of commerce. However, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that such requirements violated the U.S. Constitution by excessively interfering with foreign commerce and Congress's exclusive power to regulate it.
Justice Samuel F. Miller, in his opinion, emphasized that state statutes could not encroach upon the federal domain of immigration legislation. This ruling rendered existing immigration controls imposed by seaboard states unconstitutional, leading to the dissolution of their immigration commissions and shifting the responsibility for assisting immigrants to private organizations. The decision ultimately prompted the federal government to enact comprehensive immigration laws in 1882, significantly shaping the landscape of immigration policy in the United States. This case illustrates the complexities of federalism and the evolving nature of immigration regulation in American legal history.
On this Page
Subject Terms
Henderson v. Mayor of the City of New York
The Case: U.S. Supreme Court decision on federal power over immigration
Date: Decided on October 1, 1875
Significance:Based on Congress’s exclusive authority to regulate international commerce, which included the landing of passengers, the Henderson decision had the effect of striking down all state laws regulating immigration.
The attempt of states to impose various kinds of taxes on immigrants and other passengers entering the United States was a controversial issue for many decades during the nineteenth century. In several decisions, including Cooley v. Board of Wardens of the Port of Philadelphia (1852), the Supreme Court held that the commerce clause prohibited the states from passing laws that placed a burden on Congress’s power to maintain national uniformity in regulating international commerce. As the number of immigrants increased in the post-Civil War years, many Americans were concerned about an alleged “flood of pauperism emigrating from Europe.” The states of New York and Louisiana required ships to post a bond on each entering passenger in order to indemnify the states for the costs associated with immigrants needing financial assistance. The two states argued that the bonds were not a regulation of commerce but rather a legitimate exercise of their “police power.”
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the required bonds violated the U.S. Constitution because they interfered excessively with foreign commerce. Writing the opinion for the Court, Justice Samuel F. Miller explained that whenever a state statute “invades the domain of legislation which belongs exclusively to the Congress,” such a statute is unconstitutional and therefore void. Although Miller acknowledged that the payment of bonds was somewhat related to the police power of the states, he nevertheless found that charging such a requirement made it impossible for Congress to maintain one uniform system of rules for the landing of passengers and immigrants in all ports throughout the United States. As a result of the Henderson decision, all the immigration legislation of the seaboard states was held to be unconstitutional. In response, the states abolished their immigration commissions, and private philanthropic organizations assumed most of the burden of assisting needy immigrants. The decision encouraged the federal government to pass sweeping new immigration laws in 1882.
Bibliography
Fairman, Charles. Mr. Justice Miller and the Supreme Court, 1862-1890. Clark, N.J.: Lawbook Exchange, 2003.
LeMay, Michael, and Elliott Robert Barkan, eds. U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Laws and Issues: A Documentary History. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1999.