The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-07-01
Officials Are Ready To Handle Big Hordes

T u 10 America were ready to swing open at midnight Saturday to the great hordes of anxious men, women anG children, seeking a new home on her shores.
 All the energies of the United States immigration bureau and large part of the entire labor de- partment had been concentrated for many days on the big task of hand ling the incoming army smoothly.
 we are ready to handle the job and do 1t right" said Immigration Commissioner w. W. Husband several hours before the stroke of the clock starting the race to the new home land.
 Every available immigration in- spector and examiner in the service of the government had been mobii~ Led for the difficult problem con- fronting the United States.
 The foreign flood of would-be Americans was expected to be so enormous that even employees of the labor department were detailed to work with the regular force of i'm migration inspectors and examiners. Greatest Alien Rush.
 The greatest difficulty in handling the pell-mell rush of immigrants was expected not from the sea entrances
  strategic points of the Canadian bor- der and Cuba and the West Indies.
 Tt will be the greatest alien rush on the portals of the United States in the history of this country" in the belief of Commissioner Husband.
 The reason is that, although the quota law has only been in operation for two years, the restrictions thus placed on immigration into the Unit ed States have caused those seeking happiness in this country to redouble their efforts in reaching here first, thus greatly augmenting the volume of the migration as 1t first descends on American shores each year. Im- migration also has increased from all parts of Europe.
 Encampments of Aliens.
 Then there were the encampments of aliens, which for the last few days moved forward seeking points of vantage for the moment when the bars were let down from parts of Canada and Cuba and the West Indies.
 The immigration bureau ordered as large as force of additional in- spectors as 1t could commander at the Canadian border stations ana Key West to handle the rush from these nearby environs. The main force of immigration operatives was concentratcd principally along the Atlantic seaboard
 Hundreds and thousands from for eign lands, for months huddled in Cuba, the West Indies and Canada, waiting for the moment of midnight Saturday, they came hoping to enter the United States under quotas for the fiscal year just ending. but they came too late. Their quotas were ex- hausted so they decided to wait in the shadows of the United States for their next ODnOrfnDifv
 Must Have $50.
 Commissioner Husband declared Saturday night that his operatives had been given instructions to guard against any of the immigrants be- coming public charges here Each alien must have at least $50 in ac- cordance with the law and this pro- vision was to be strictly enforced.
 Also the law fining steamship com- panies s2o0 for each immi grant over the quota that is brought here and obliging the lines to return such alien and refund their passage was to be enforced to the letter to pre- vent all unnecessary congestion.
 A total of 357.s03 immigrants will be allowed to enter the United States during the fiscal year of 1924 under the law.
 As an indication of the extent of the migration now lowering off American shores and borders, Hus- band estimated that of the 71.40O immigrants permitted to enter monthly. 25.000 or more than one- third will apply during the first two or three days.
 Contrary to custom, all immigra- ton stations will be kept open Sum day to handle the start of the rush. Between 20 and 25 ocean liners wore expected to dock at Atlantic ports Sunday. each ship with an average of 700 immigrants on board Ten thousand immigrants were expected to arrive at Ellis Island 1000 at Boston, 2.S00 at Philadelphia: 800 at Providence. R. l.. and 500 at Port land, Maine