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Title 8 — Aliens and NationalityRelease 119-73

§1285 Employment on passenger vessels of aliens afflicted with certain disabilities

Title 8 › Chapter CHAPTER 12— - IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - IMMIGRATION › Part Part VI— - Special Provisions Relating to Alien Crewmen › § 1285

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

It is illegal for a passenger ship or airplane coming from a foreign port to arrive in the U.S. with any non‑U.S. citizen on board who has feeble‑mindedness, insanity, epilepsy, tuberculosis in any form, leprosy, or any dangerous contagious disease. If a U.S. Public Health Service doctor examines the person and certifies to the Attorney General that the person had the condition when taken on board and it could have been found by a proper medical exam then, for each such person, the owner or master must pay $1,000 to the Commissioner. A vessel or plane cannot get clearance until it is decided who must pay or the amount is paid, unless the owner deposits the money or posts an approved bond. The Attorney General may reduce or cancel the payment.

Full Legal Text

Title 8, §1285

Aliens and Nationality — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

It shall be unlawful for any vessel or aircraft carrying passengers between a port of the United States and a port outside thereof to have employed on board upon arrival in the United States any alien afflicted with feeble-mindedness, insanity, epilepsy, tuberculosis in any form, leprosy, or any dangerous contagious disease. If it appears to the satisfaction of the Attorney General, from an examination made by a medical officer of the United States Public Health Service, and is so certified by such officer, that any such alien was so afflicted at the time he was shipped or engaged and taken on board such vessel or aircraft and that the existence of such affliction might have been detected by means of a competent medical examination at such time, the owner, commanding officer, agent, consignee, or master thereof shall pay for each alien so afflicted to the Commissioner the sum of $1,000. No vessel or aircraft shall be granted clearance pending the determination of the question of the liability to the payment of such sums, or while such sums remain unpaid, except that clearance may be granted prior to the determination of such question upon the deposit of an amount sufficient to cover such sums or of a bond approved by the Commissioner with sufficient surety to secure the payment thereof. Any such fine may, in the discretion of the Attorney General, be mitigated or remitted.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1990—Pub. L. 101–649 substituted “Commissioner the sum of $1,000” for “collector of customs of the customs district in which the port of arrival is located the sum of $50” in second sentence, and “Commissioner” for “collector of customs” in third sentence.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1990 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 101–649 applicable to actions taken after Nov. 29, 1990, see section 543(c) of Pub. L. 101–649, set out as a note under section 1221 of this title. Abolition of Immigration and Naturalization Service and

Transfer of Functions

For abolition of Immigration and Naturalization Service,

Transfer of Functions

, and treatment of related references, see note set out under section 1551 of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

8 U.S.C. § 1285

Title 8 — Aliens and Nationality

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73