National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
National Parks of New York Harbor Education Center
ELLIS ISLAND
First Stop for Immigrants, Last Stop for Deportees
In 1892, the United States government opened Ellis Island as an immigrant processing station. This replaced an
earlier facility at Castle Gardens (now Castle Clinton, a National Park Service site) in Manhattan. From 1892 to
1954, about 12 immigrants passed through its doors.
Not every immigrant had to go to Ellis Island. Ship passengers in first or second class were
inspected on board, during their voyage. Once their ship arrived in New York City, they
were free to go. But passengers in steerage (third class) had to stop at Ellis Island for
medical inspection (see photo, left) and to have their papers checked. Immigration officials
at Ellis decided who was medically fit and who should be sent back. Over the years, laws
placed new barriers to some immigrants: illiterates; people with physical impairments or
diseases such as trachoma (an eye disease) or tuberculosis (TB); the "feebleminded"
"insane"; anarchists; criminals.
National Park Service
Every year between 1900 and 1910, an average of two
hundred thousand immigrants arrived in the U.S. just from
Italy alone. That soon changed. In the early 1920s,
Congress passed two sets of immigration law: the Quota
Laws of 1921 and the National Origins Act of 1924.
These laws set strict limits on how many people could
enter the U.S. They also placed people from northern
Europe at the head of the line. Immigration from southern
and eastern Europe fell dramatically. After 1924, Italy was
allowed a quota of only 5,666 immigrants per year. (In
1965, Congress changed these laws. Now, one's profession
and family status are more important than one's national
origin.)
National Park Service
By 1924, immigrants were more likely to go through processing in their home country, not in the U.S.
Inspection stations like Ellis Island (see photo, above right) became unnecessary. From 1924 to 1954, the island
was mainly used to keep immigrants who might be deported. People with disease or criminal records were
detained there, along with those suspected of being spies or who had entered the U.S. illegally. Many were sent
back to their country of origin. In 1954, the U.S. government shut down Ellis Island. In 1965, the island was
given to the National Park Service.
The Ellis Island Immigration Museum began the Oral History Project in 1973. Nearly two thousand
immigrants have given interviews so far. Oral histories are interviews where all sorts of people—factory
workers, housewives, movie stars, and salesmen—tell their stories in their own words. Although most Ellis
Island immigrants have passed on, the Oral History Project keeps their stories alive. The project reminds us
that all of us make history, just by the choices we make in our daily lives.
Metropolitan Communities: Immigration (student page)
3.07.06