What happens when immigrants arrived at Angel Island?
Overall, almost everyone who came through Ellis Island (around 98% by some counts) was admitted. By contrast, 60% of the immigrants who arrived at Angel Island—most of whom were Chinese—were detained, and it took weeks or months to be released; the longest detention Lee found was 756 days.
Why Angel Island was chosen as an immigration station?
To enforce the Chinese Exclusion Acts, the federal government built the immigration station compound on Angel Island, chosen because it isolated the immigrants from their relatives and friends on the mainland.
What immigrants went to Angel Island?
On the west coast, between 1910 and 1940, most were met by the wooden buildings of Angel Island. These immigrants were Australians and New Zealanders, Canadians, Mexicans, Central and South Americans, Russians, and in particular, Asians.
How do you get to Angel Island immigration station?
The U.S. Immigration Station is approximately a 1.5 mile walk from the ferry dock at Ayala Cove. Use of Northridge Trail, including the 144 steps to Perimeter Road is the shortest and most direct way to the Immigration Station.
When was the Angel Island immigration station in use?
1910
Angel Island Immigration Station, formally United States Immigration Station at Angel Island, the principal immigration facility on the West Coast of the United States from 1910 to 1940.
How do you get to Angel Island Immigration Station?
How long did immigrants stay in Angel Island?
Most of them were detained on Angel Island for as little as two weeks or as much as six months. A few however, were forced to remain on the island for as much as two years. Interrogations could take a long time to complete, especially if witnesses for the immigrants lived in the eastern United States.
When was the Angel Island Immigration Station in use?
What was it like for immigrants at Angel Island?
Thousands of immigrants detained on Angel Island endured the station’s prison-like environment. Detainees resided in confined dormitories with locked doors, unable to leave without the supervision of an escort guard.