The United States
Immigration Station on
Angel Island is sometimes called the "Ellis Island of the West", both were immigration stations on islands and that is where the similarities end. In stark contrast to the light lifted by Lady Liberty to welcome the tempest tossed near Ellis Island, Angel Island's station was actually called the "Guardian of the Western Gate" and charged with keeping unwanted immigrants out of America.
From the California State Parks website on the Immigration Station:
In 1905, construction of an Immigration Station began in the area then known as North Garrison. Surrounded by public controversy from its inception, the station was finally put into partial operation in 1910. It was designed to process Chinese immigrants whose entry was restricted by the Chinese Ex. Law of 1882. Immigrants from Europe were all expected with the opening of the Panama Canal. International events after 1914, including the outbreak of World War 1, cancelled the expected rush of Europeans, but Asians continued to arrive on the West Coast and to go through immigration procedures. In fact, more than 97 percent of the immigrants processed on Angel Island were Chinese.
The influx of Asians into the United States, dating from the California Gold Rush, created tension between them and other immigrants. During the 1870s, an economic downturn resulted in serious unemployment problems, and led to outcries against Asian immigrants who would work for low wages. Restrictive immigration laws were passed that allowed entry only to those that had been born in the U.S. or had husbands or fathers who were citizens. Enforcement of those laws was assigned to the Bureau of Immigration.
When it opened in 1910, the new detention facility on Angel Island was considered ideal because of its isolation. There were buildings to house and care for detainees, a pier, and regular boat service to the mainland. During the next 30 years, this was the point of entry for most of the approximately 175,000 Chinese immigrants who came to the United States. 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. Some detainees expressed their feelings in poetry that they carved into the wooden walls of the detention center. Others simply waited, hoping for a favorable response to their appeals, but fearing deportation. May of the poems that were carved into the walls of the center are still legible today.
In 1940, a fire that destroyed the administration building in August of that year hastened the government decision to abandon the Immigration Station on Angel Island. On November 5, the last group of about 200 immigrants (including about 150 Chinese) were transferred from Angel Island to temporary quarters in San Francisco. The so-called "Chinese Exclusion Acts," which were adopted in the early 1880's were repealed by Federal action in 1943, because by that time, China was an ally of the US in World War II.
Today, most visitors to Angel Island find the Immigration Station a place of reflection. While often called the Ellis Island of the West, the Angel Island Immigration Station, was in fact quite different. Arrivals at Ellis Island were welcomed to this country, by the near by Statue of Liberty and screened primarily for medical reasons leaving an average of 2-3 hours of arriving. At Angel Island, the objective was to exclude new arrivals, the memories of many returning visitors are therefore bittersweet. A museum has been established in the old barracks building. It includes a re-creation of one of the dormitories, and highlights some of the poems that were carved into the station's walls.