“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” Though the immigrants to Ellis Island could not see Emma Lazarus’ “The New Colossus” within the base of the Statue of Liberty, “tired” and “poor” were overwhelming applicable to the desperate souls seeking new life in America. While Ellis Island has a reputation in popular culture for being the “processing center” for all those seeking to enter America on the East Coast, the sad truth is that primarily only steerage passengers who could just barely afford their ticket were the ones waiting in line at Ellis Island to gain admission into the United States. For those who could afford a luxury ticket, the immigration authorities boarded ships for them, and once given the all-clear, were then proceeded to be dropped off at New York. For those who had to wait, immigration processing included checking paperwork, medical examinations, mental health tests, and work interviews. For those that had some kind of disease or were deemed too unskilled to support themselves, rounds and rounds of the bureaucratic process started to take place. Ellis Island Hospital, on the south end of the island, became the eventual deathbed of 3,000 would-be …show more content…
I found it especially interesting, given this election’s candidates and their positions, how xenophobia has always been a deplorable aspect of American society as a whole. But walking through the immigrant monument and seeing names like Irving Berlin and Johnny Weissmuller serves as a reminder that immigration is what makes America great right now. In fact, I was surprised to see that Donald J. Trump had received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, signifying impact made by an immigrant or children of immigrants. Standing in the processing hall, where the forefathers of 40% of our current population once stood, truly helped me recognize how diverse and unique our nation
Ellis island brought millions of immigrants to America between the years 1892 and 1954. It is said that 40% of our population today can trace their ancestors to Ellis Island. Many people of many nationalities came to The United States get a chance at having the “American Dream”. Whilst pursuing their dreams, they left their marks on American culture. No one has influenced us so much as the Italians and their way of life.
Immigrants were held for long periods of time before they could get into America. People who had to send here were Steerages, a lower class, they had been “named” by the medical exams “E” for eye trouble, “K” for hernia, “L” for lameness, “X for mental defects, “H” for heart disease, Mary Gordon, 1987. In the other hand, Angel Island and Ellis Island had many differences between them. Ellis Island was in the East coast, Upper New York Bay. In additional, Ellis Island was a castle garden, and it was used for immigrants from Europe. “Immigrants could pass through Ellis Island in mere hours, though for some the process took days”, May Gordon, 1987. The immigrants who passed Ellis Island had been treated by terrible things such as “stolen their names and chalked their weaknesses in public on their clothing” Marry Gordon, 1987. Immigrants who had to go to the Angel Island was treated worse. They would be separated men from women and children at the moment they had arrived. Then they had to do the medical exams which required undressing in front of strangers. If they fail the test for various diseases they would be deported immediately. After all of the examinations, the immigrants did not pass through yet, they would wait in a detention dormitory and a bunk until the interrogation process, and this process took a few days to months. In conclusion, I rather to live in Ellis Island and
If an immigrant had a visible health issue, they would be put in the medical center on ellis island, they would either die, get better, or get sent back to their home country from there. Ellis Island got the nickname heartbreak island from those who got sent back to their home country, which was only 2% of immigrants who attempted to get through Ellis
In the 1600's, Ellis Island was known as Gull Island by the Mohegan tribe and was simply two to three acres. During high tide, the island could barely have been seen above the rising waters. After being discovered for its rich oyster beds in 1628, Dutch settlers renamed it Oyster Island. And then in 1765, which was the hanging of Anderson the Pirate, the island was again renamed the Gibbet Island, after the instrument used to hang him. Finally on January 20, 1785, Samuel Ellis purchased the property and gave it his name, which is still the name of the island today, Ellis Island
“I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a thousand more, if only they had known they were slaves.” Harriet Tubman was a woman known for her important role during the time that led up to the Civil War. She was a woman of incredible strength, courage, and determination. And while Harriet Tubman is credited for giving the slaves an option as to what way they shall spend the rest of their life, the sad truth lies within the quote above. While many people like to believe that slavery was a horrendous act that happened only with small minded people from the south many years ago, that isn’t the case in all honesty. In fact, the idea of slavery was highly debated about and troubled more minds than many are led to believe. While there are
As said before, it was also a huge risk to take. That was mainly because if you were a poor immigrant, you would have to ride in steerage level and trust me, that’s no fun. Once you’ve arrived, you would be forced/expected to take a series of test or examination. If you failed the test, bad things happen such as you going to quarantine, which means that you will get locked up for a while. or potentially even sent all the way back in those terrible conditions in the boat. If you were to succeed, then you would enter America as a new citizen. Back when Ellis Island wasn’t shut down, there were immigrants coming from all over the world. For example, there were mountains of immigrants that came from Southern and Eastern Europe, while fewer immigrants were coming from Northern and Western Europe, such as the British Isles and Scandinavian countries, as
Immigration defined means the act of coming to a foreign country to live(Lowell, 2006). Ellis Island was responsible for millions of people entering the U.S. and during this time the immigration station was carrying the load being accountable for approxametly 90% of immigrants entering the United States(Fairchild, 1996). Before Ellis Island became an immigration depot, then an immigration station the individual states of America handled immigration. On the first day of Ellis Island becoming an immigration station 700 individuals, mostly from northwest Europe, passed through. The first official immigrant being Annie Moore, a young 14 year old girl traveling with her two younger brothers from County Cork, Ireland(Chabotte,2009). For being the first immigrant to pass through the gates she was given a ten dollar gold piece which would help her journey into a foreign country. Along with Annie Moore the lack of money would be a major problem for future immigrants taking the same journey.
Labor struggles were not the only fire the Italian Immigrants had to deal with. According to La’Gumina, during the first years of Italian Immigration they had to face many conflicts such as virulent prejudice, and nativist hostility (p. 22). Beginning with Ellis Island, although less then two percent of Italians were turned away, if an Italian had a small trace of an illness such as trachoma they were to return to Italy. As stated in La’Gumina’s Documentary, to many Italians of the time Ellis Island was renamed L’Isola dell Lagrime—the Island of Tears (p. 43). However, even those who made it through successfully dealt with many conflicts of Ellis Island. Many did not speak English, hence the regulations were confusing, many people were disoriented, unsure of what to do or where to go. Each individual person arriving in the States had to be entered by name into the official registry book, and due to the f...
Immigration is the key to diversity in the United States. The United States (U.S.) opened its borders and shores many years ago, allowing foreign nationals into the country. Foreign nationals refer to the U.S. as “the land of opportunity”; this belief drives foreign nationals to migrate to the country. Foreign nationals must register with the U.S. government and obtain the proper documentation to become legal U.S. citizens. Illegal immigrants and/or undocumented workers are foreign nationals that do not register with the U.S. government upon entering the U.S., or they overstay the allotted time of their temporary nonimmigrant visas. Illegal immigrant and/or undocumented workers receive the same benefits as U.S. citizens such as health, public housing, and educational often while avoiding paying state and federal taxes. The U.S. government must do a better job of monitoring the status foreign nationals.
When my family and I got in the plane that would take us to the U.S., I was very excited. It was as if I had butterflies in my stomach. I was also nervous because I had heard of people that were turned away when they got to America because the government was not letting as many immigrants into the U.S as they had in the past. Therefore, my whole family was a little anxious. Two things could happen when we arrived at the Washington, D.C., airport. We could either come to the United States to chase after “the American dream”, or we could be turned away which meant that we would have to return to our country of origin.
Each ship held approximately 1,500-2,000 passengers, each of them in very cramped situations. There were three types of accommodations on the ships: first class, second class and steerage. Only passengers in steerage were processed at Ellis Island. First and second class passengers were quickly and courteously “inspected” onboard the ship before being transferred to New York. For most immigrants, especially early arrivers, having the experience of steerage was a nightmare. The conditions were crowded, dismally dark, unsanitary and foul smelling.
During the 19th century the East Coast saw little restrictions and regulations on the entry of immigrants to the U.S. Opening in 1892, Ellis Island was the first Federal immigration station in the Unite States of America. Ellis Island was home to many European immigrants. People from Ireland, Italy, France, Germany, Russia, etc. all concentrated on Ellis Island with hopes and dreams of making it out. The U.S Bureau of Immigration overl...
It is quite ironic that these "nativists" came to America for the same reasons as the immigrants who came in the time period of 1880-1925; however, they do not accept the immigrants who came in that period, just as they had once wanted to be accepted. Emma Lazarus’ "The New Colossus", which is on the Statue of Liberty, reads "Give me you tired, your poor, Your huddled mass yearning to breathe free," but in fact, many Americans, nativists, did not want these poor, huddled mass at all.
The Refugee Act was created in 1975. This was a policy that was implemented over time to assist and aide individuals in crisis within their own country. Some of the reasons the people left these countries were due to asylum, to escape the sex slavery, also people of domestic violence. There is a process that these individuals have to go through in order to be placed in a third country. These refugees have some form of security clearance due to the nature of their situation. Some, eventually get their families united with them after a period of time.
Immigration poses an ongoing debate in which people are becoming increasingly unsure as to whether immigrants are benefiting their society. This paper will examine three of the main benefits of immigration: the increase in diversity it provides, the rise in skills and labor and the benefits to the economy. Immigration leads to cross-cultural integration, therefore increasing ethnic variety. This increase in diversity is beneficial as it leads to improvements in society, as well as educational development. Increased immigration also means there are more skills and experts available to the hosting countries, as well as extra workers to take up jobs that need filling. Immigration also leads to improvements in the economy as taxes are paid and employment and wages increase.