[3] While the act was ostensibly designed to prevent entry of paupers or criminals and to set up a mechanism to deport those who slipped through, one of its main objectives was to control Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe.

[4] This reached its peak in the late 1890s, with "tens of thousands of Jews ... mostly poor, semi-skilled and unskilled" settling in the East End of London.

[4] The British Brothers' League was formed, with the support of prominent politicians such as William Evans-Gordon, MP for Stepney, organising marches and petitions.

[4] In 1905, an editorial in the Manchester Evening Chronicle[4] wrote "that the dirty, destitute, diseased, verminous and criminal foreigner who dumps himself on our soil and rates simultaneously, shall be forbidden to land".

[7] Aside from antisemitic sentiments, the act was also driven by the economic and social unrest in the East End of London where most immigrants settled.