US Immigration Station

US Immigration Station. . Center Panel:, Fencing Out Freedom , Although it is often compared to Ellis Island, Angel Island was not a place of welcome. Instead, it was used to keep immigrants, specifically those from China, out., The US Immigration Station opened in 1910. Over the next thirty years, it processed nearly a million people from over eighty countries. Most were processed quickly on board their ships. Some European and Japanese immigrants were held a few days. Some Chinese immigrants also moved on quickly; however, many spent up to several months in detention., While on the island, families were separated. Sometimes women and children could walk around, but men were kept crammed in the barracks or a small fenced area. Conditions were unsafe and unsanitary., Some who were forced to stay here wrote poems of sorrow, anger, and hope on the walls., Did You Know? , . In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, barring most Chinese immigrants. The law was repealed during World War II, when the United States and China became allies. , . In response to the exclusion act, a thriving black market arose to help Chinese immigrants enter the country. “Paper sons and daughters” used fake papers and memorized facts to try to claim kinship with US citizens. , . Multiple complaints about fire safety were recorded between 1910 and when the administration building burned down in 1940. , . Poems written by detainees were almost lost in the 1970s when the detention center was slated to be torn down. Their rediscovery helped spur a campaign to save the building and its inscriptions., Right Panel: , Discover, Memories Live On , Much of the original immigration station is gone, but the memories live on in the poems inscribed on the barracks walls and in the hearts of the immigrants’ families., 1 – [Written in Chinese] , 2 – Ask older relatives about your family story. Did any of your ancestors pass through Angel Island or Ellis Island? , 3 – Listen to a poem in Cantonese inside the barrcks. , 4 – Can you find the foundations of the employee cottages designed by Julia Morgan, a famous California architect? , 5 – Find the lone Norfolk Island pine and see if you can tell why these trees are often called “living Christmas trees.” , 6 – Ring the fog bell on the wharf., Safety Starts Here , Stay on trails and out of closed buildings to avoid injuries. By following these simple steps, you also help protect the park’s resources., Left Panel , Angel Island State Park , (map)