Passed in 1875 and named after California’s Republican House Representative Horace Page, the Page Act (or An Act Supplementary to the Acts in Relation to Immigration) empowered U.S. consuls-general and consuls to oversee and deny immigration to the United States from Asian countries. Japan, China, and “Oriental” nations were specifically referred to in the legislation. Two groups were targeted. Laborers who were deemed not “free and voluntary” and Asian women believed to be immigrating for immoral purposes, such as prostitution, were prohibited.