Daily AncestorImmigrant inspector
An immigrant inspector was the federal officer who questioned arriving aliens at a port of entry and decided whether to admit them or hold them.
The Immigration Act of 1891 created a federal corps of U.S. Immigrant Inspectors at the main ports. Many had worked for state immigration boards, as customs inspectors or as Chinese inspectors. They questioned arrivals using the manifest, noted admission or rejection on it, and from 1893 also sat in groups of three on Boards of Special Inquiry.
Inspectors' names or initials turn up on records: beside a passenger discharged at the dock, in the Discharged column of detention lists, and as the officer who held someone for a hearing. An inspector could also be sent inland to take sworn statements from relatives who promised support.
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Daily Ancestor. "Immigrant inspector." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/immigration/immigrant-inspector. Last checked 2026-10-12.