Penalties.
The provisions of this act shall apply to every steamship or other vessel whereon emigrant passengers, or passengers other than cabin passengers are taken on board at a port or place in the United States for conveyance to any port or place in a foreign country except foreign territory contiguous to the United States, and shall also apply to any vessel whereon such passengers are taken on board at any port or place of the United States on the Atlantic Ocean or its tributaries for conveyance to a port or place on the Pacific Ocean or its tributaries, or vice versa; and whether the voyage of said vessel is to be continuous from port to port or such passengers are to be conveyed from port to port in part by the way of any overland route through Mexico or Central America; and the said collector of customs may direct an examination of the vessel to be made by an inspector or other officer of the customs, who shall make the examination and report whether the provisions of this act have been complied with in respect to such vessel, and the said collector is authorized to withhold the clearance of such vessel until the coming in of such report; and if the said report shall show that any of the provisions of this act have not been complied with, the collector is authorized and directed to withhold the clearance of such vessel until the said provisions are complied with, and if any such vessel leaves the aforesaid port or place without having been duly cleared by the collector of customs, the master shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and may be fined not exceeding one thousand dollars, and be imprisoned not exceeding one year, and the vessel shall be liable to seizure and forfeiture. (Aug. 2, 1882; sec. 12.)
The amount of the several fines and penalties imposed by any section of this act upon the master of any steamship or other vessel carrying or bringing emigrant passengers, or passengers other than cabin passengers, for any violation of the provisions of this act, shall be liens upon such vessel, and such vessel may be libeled therefor in any district court of the United States where such vessel shall arrive or depart. (Sec. 13.)