what kind of immigrants came to angel island

What immigrants came through 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

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What countries did the Angel Island immigrants come from?

From 1910-40, an estimated 500,000 immigrants from 80 countries—including Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Mexico, Canada, and Central and South America—were processed through Angel Island. The great majority came from China or other Asian countries, including Japan, Hawaii, the Pacific Islands, Korea and Vietnam.

What is the Angel Island immigration station?

Located in San Francisco Bay, the Angel Island Immigration Station served as the main immigration facility on the West Coast of the United States from 1910 to 1940. Many immigrants from China or other Asian countries were detained there for extended periods thanks to the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) and other discriminatory immigration laws.

What was life like for Chinese immigrants at Angel Island?

Chinese immigrants could only stay in the United States if they could prove that they had family members who were U.S. residents. In general, the conditions at Angel Island were not comfortable or sanitary, and the immigrants were forced to go through grueling interrogations and examinations.

What is the history of Angel Island?

Historically home to the Miwok Native Americans, the 740-acre island had since housed a large Mexican cattle ranch and a U.S. military base. After numerous delays in the construction, the immigration station was hastily completed and opened on January 21, 1910 on the northeastern edge of Angel Island.

Who mainly immigrated through Angel Island?

ChinaFrom 1910-40, an estimated 500,000 immigrants from 80 countries—including Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Mexico, Canada, and Central and South America—were processed through Angel Island. The great majority came from China or other Asian countries, including Japan, Hawaii, the Pacific Islands, Korea and Vietnam.

Why did immigrants come to Angel Island?

Angel Island was an ideal location for an immigration station due to its isolation from the mainland.

How were the immigrants treated at Angel Island?

While at the detention center, Chinese immigrants went through harsh interrogations and demeaning physical exams, often, living in deplorable conditions. Families would be separated and forced to sleep it cramped communal quarters.

What happened to immigrants when they 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.

When did immigrants start coming to Angel Island?

January 21, 1910To prove their legal right to enter, Chinese and eventually other Asian immigrants were detained and questioned at the Angel Island Immigration Station, which opened on January 21, 1910.

How were immigrants treated at Angel and Ellis Island?

The main ethnic groups that came through Ellis Island were English, Irish, Italian, and Polish. Immigrants at Angel Island were not treated fairly. They were detained for long periods of time in filthy living conditions. The beds had no mattresses and were packed closely together.

How long did immigrants stay on Angel Island?

For some it was only a few days and for others it lasted for months, the longest recorded stay being 22 months. This was significantly different from Ellis Island which had more relaxed regulation, and allowed many immigrants to enter the United States on the day of their arrival.

How did the immigrants at Angel Island express their fears and frustrations?

MOGLEN: To alleviate their fear, some of the men wrote *poetry � on the walls. In fact, the barracks walls are covered in Cantonese script � over 200 poems, some in ink, some carved, express the men�s frustration, despair and hope.

How did many detained immigrants express their feelings at Angel Island?

The most visible and durable testimony of those detained at Angel Island are the notable poems, some written, some carved with a classical Cantonese technique into the wooden walls of the barracks. This was not mere graffiti. Couched in classical allegories and historical references, these poems poured forth the ...

What was the major fear of those who were being detained on Angel Island?

Deprived of organized activities within the dormitories, 34 many immigrants lolled about or laid on their bunks, most of the time worrying about their future.

What percentage of immigrants were deported from Angel Island?

Of those who arrived at Angel Island, it is estimated that anywhere from 11 percent to 30 percent were ultimately deported, whereas the deportation rate for the East Coast was only 1 percent to 2 percent.

Why was the Angel Island Immigration Station located on the island?

The station’s location on the island was intended to keep the detainees isolated and was thought to be escape-proof.

What was the name of the immigration station in 1915?

Angel Island Immigration Station. Angel Island Immigration Station, c. 1915–20. National Archives, Washington, D.C. Having served successively as a hunting and fishing ground for the Miwok people, a private cattle ranch, a military base and embarkation point, as well as a quarantine station, Angel Island replaced a congested structure on ...

How long did the immigration authorities keep the immigrants captive?

The immigration authorities’ rigorous efforts to expose fraud resulted in protracted, exhaustive interrogations and related interviews of corroborating parties that sometimes kept the immigrants captive on the island for weeks or months.

What is the Angel Island deportation center?

The station comprised some 45 purpose-built structures, including a hospital, a laboratory, barracks, a laundry, and a two-story bathhouse.

How big is Angel Island?

Angel Island encompasses an area of about 740 acres (300 hectares) and is located in San Francisco Bay, California, near Alcatraz Island and the Golden Gate Bridge, between 1.25 miles (2 km) and 1.5 miles (2.5 km) north of San Francisco.

What was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882?

This approach was an outgrowth and implementation of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which had resulted from years of racial hostility by white Americans against immigrant Chinese labourers. Passengers arriving in San Francisco were screened aboard ship and separated by nationality.

When did Angel Island become a state park?

In 1954 a small part of the island became a California state park, with land added to the park between then and 1963, after which point the park’s boundaries encompassed nearly the whole island. Poetry written by Chinese immigrants, carved into the wall of the detention barracks at Angel Island Immigration Station.

Why was the Immigration Station closed?

Once closed due to fire, the Immigration Station site was used as a World War II prisoner of war processing center by the U.S. military. After the war, the site was abandoned and deteriorated. In 1963, Angel Island was established as a state park and the California Department of Parks and Recreation (State Parks) assumed stewardship of the immigration site.

Why were the Angel Island immigrants detained?

Dozens of families and individuals ended up at the Angel Island Immigration Station, underwent medical inspection and were detained for weeks because they did not have sufficient funds to reach their eventual destinations.

How many Japanese were sent to the mainland after Pearl Harbor?

Almost 700 Japanese immigrants were sent from Hawaii to the mainland after Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japan on December 7, 1941. Close to 600 of these people were first detained in the former immigration barracks on Angel Island, with the other 105 being sent to Sharp Park, near Pacifica.

What was the first stop on disembarking at the pier on Angel Island?

The first stop on disembarking at the pier on Angel Island was the Administration Building. Men were separated from women and children, then proceeded for medical exams, a humiliating experience for Asians, whose medical practice does not include disrobing before the leering eyes of strangers or being probed and measured by metal calipers. Here, they would also be tested for parasitic infections. Consequences could be severe for failing this test, including hospitalization at their own expense or deportation. After the examinations they were then assigned a detention dormitory and a bunk, where they would await their interrogators, the Board of Special Inquiry.

What were the immigrants on Angel Island?

These immigrants were Australians and New Zealanders, Canadians, Mexicans, Central and South Americans, Russians, and in particular, Asians.

What was the first act to restrict Chinese immigration?

With the passing of this first act, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, America had limited immigration on the basis of nationality or race for the first time, and it would not be the last, as subsequent acts severely curtailed each successive wave of immigration from Asia which came to replace Chinese immigrant workers.

When was the immigration station on Angel Island opened?

In January 1910 , over the late objections of Chinese community leaders, this hastily built immigration station was opened on the northeastern edge of Angel Island, ready to receive its first guests. The first stop on disembarking at the pier on Angel Island was the Administration Building.

What is the story of Soto Shee?

Among the most heartbreaking stories of detainees is the story of Soto Shee. Eager to be reunited with her husband Lim Lee, whose father was an American citizen, Shee voyaged from Hong Kong to San Francisco just before the 1924 Immigration Act, at which point the law’s enactment led to her being waylaid on Angel Island. Her 7-month-old son Soon Din died while they were in detention, and the body was taken to San Francisco for burial. A lawyer appealed for Shee’s release, but officials denied the request, arguing that they saw “no unusual hardship.” Her request for release got approved only when Shee hung herself in the women’s bathroom in the middle of the night, and her body was discovered and revived. (After her release, Shee went on to raise 10 children in California— including a daughter she was pregnant with on Angel Island —and lived to be 96 years old.)

What was the first street named after an Asian American woman?

And in February 2021, after efforts by Barnali Ghosh and a group of activists who discovered the story after coming across an oral history interview in the South Asian American Digital Archive, Kala Bagai Way in Berkeley became the city’s first street to be named after an Asian-American woman.

How long did Angel Island last?

Obstacles this way, blockades that way, and the bridges burnt behind.”. In its 30-year existence, from 1910 to 1940, Angel Island processed about half a million immigrants from 80 countries, people coming to and leaving from the U.S., before it closed when a fire broke out. Over the next 30 years, restrictions to Asian immigration ...

What was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882?

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 also led to efforts to keep out Japanese, Korean, Filipino and South Asian laborers, and the 1917 Immigration Act’s Asiatic Barred Zone aimed to deny entry to about 500 million Asians from India, Burma, Siam (now Thailand), Arabia, Afghanistan and most Polynesian islands.

What is Angel Island?

Though it’s less frequently discussed in history classes than its New York counterpart, Angel Island in San Francisco Bay was often described as the “Ellis Island of the West” —and it was there that thousands of would-be immigrants of Asian and Mexican descent were turned away, and where life in the U.S. began for the few who did enter.

How long did it take to get out of Ellis Island?

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.

Where did Vaishno Das Bagai live?

Vaishno Das Bagai, from present-day Pakistan, came through Angel Island in 1915, became a citizen in 1921 and bought a home in Berkeley, Calif. But when he and his wife Kala tried to move in, they found angry white neighbors waiting to try to stop them.

What were the first Russian immigrants to come to San Francisco?

Editor’s note: The earliest group of Russian immigrants to arrive in San Francisco were Molokan peasants from the Kars region of the Transcaucaus in 1905. Religious dissenters from the Russian Orthodox Church, they were called “Molokane” or “milk drinker” by the Russian clergy because of their refusal to abstain from drinking milk or eating meat during the Orthodox fast days. The group called themselves “Spiritual Christian Holy Jumpers” and also refused to bear arms. They were persecuted and exiled into the wilds of the Transcaucasian region in 1820 and threatened with conscription into the military after 1887. Fearful of their future as religious dissenters and pacifists in a hostile land, approximately 3,000 Molokans embarked on a clandestine journey to America between 1904 and 1911. Traveling in large and small groups of families, most of them entered at the ports of New York, Montreal, and Galveston. At least 300 came via Panama and thus ended up at the port of San Francisco.

How many Molokans were in quarantine?

S.S. San Juan. The passenger manifest indicates that one baby boy was born at sea, one man died on June 5, and eleven Molokans were held in quarantine on Angel Island for observation or to be treated for various eye and skin afflictions, such as trachoma, impetigo, seborrhea and eczema.

How many molokans traveled to America?

Fearful of their future as religious dissenters and pacifists in a hostile land, approximately 3,000 Molokans embarked on a clandestine journey to America between 1904 and 1911. Traveling in large and small groups of families, most of them entered at the ports of New York, Montreal, and Galveston. At least 300 came via Panama ...

How old was Alex when he was conscripted?

By 1905 the Tsar was in need of more young men for his army, and the military service exemption granted to the Molokans expired. Alex was 19 years old and therefore a prime candidate to be conscripted. He knew it was time to follow the prophecy even if it meant leaving his new family behind. He was confident he could arrange for them to be reunited soon. So Alex joined a group of about 144 men, women and children that boarded the ship (name unknown) in Batumi in March of 1905 for the journey to a new home in America.

How many girls did Alex and Masha have?

Alex and Masha raised a family of three boys and six girls.

How many grandchildren does Bill Aldacushion have?

Their legacy so far includes nine children, eight grandchildren, including the author, sixteen great-grandchildren, twenty-one great-great grandchildren, and one great-great-great grandchild. Bill Aldacushion is a descendant of Russian Molokan immigrants who grew up in Southern California.

How long did it take to get from Panama to California?

Each group sailed on ships of the Pacific Mail Steamship Line at different times. It took up to 23 days for the voyage from Panama to San Francisco, California.

Why were Chinese detained at Angel Island?

Due to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, most Chinese immigrants were detained at Angel Island or even deported back to their home country. Chinese immigrants could only stay in the United States if they could prove that they had family members who were U.S. residents. In general, the conditions at Angel Island were not comfortable or sanitary, and the immigrants were forced to go through grueling interrogations and examinations. Most of the immigrants did not speak English. Read below about some of the challenges faced by immigrants on Angel Island.

Why were Chinese immigrants forced to undergo interrogation?

Chinese immigrants were forced through intense interrogation to prove that they had family members who were U.S. residents

What were the living quarters like?

Living quarters were dirty and unsanitary, and often had a horrible smell. As a result, disease was common and spread quickly

How many passengers were on the boat at Ellis Island?

The passengers were then put aboard small steamboats and brought to Ellis Island. “The boats would carry 700, 800, even 1,000 passengers,” Moreno says. “The passengers would be ordered to form two separate lines; one of women and children, including boys under the age of 15, and one of men, with as many as 10,000 passengers and several steam ships arriving per day.”

How many passengers did the Ellis Island ferry carry?

The passengers were then put aboard small steamboats and brought to Ellis Island. “The boats would carry 700, 800, even 1,000 passengers,” Moreno says. “The passengers would be ordered to form two separate lines; one of women and children, including boys under the age of 15, and one of men, with as many as 10,000 passengers ...

What percentage of immigrants were denied entry to the United States at Ellis Island?

The only free food was given to detainees held forcibly overnight.”. Just 2 percent of immigrants at Ellis Island were denied entry to the United States.

How many people were on Ellis Island in 1907?

In fact, no papers were required at all. More than 12 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954—with a whopping 1,004,756 entering the United States in 1907 alone. And yet, even during these days of peak immigration, for most passengers hoping to establish new lives in the United States, ...

How did the inspector verify the passenger manifest?

“The inspector would verify the passenger manifest by rereading the information provided ,” Moreno says. “If everything was OK, he would just make a little check mark by your name, but if your answers were bad, wrong or suspicious, or if secret information had arrived about you previous to your arrival, your name was marked with an ‘X’ and you were told you would be detained.”

Why did the passengers arrive at the gateway station in 1907?

The passengers disembarking ships at the gateway station in 1907 were arriving due to a number of factors , including a strong domestic economy and pogrom outbreaks of violence against Jews in the Russian Empire , says Vincent Cannato, associate professor of history at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and author of American Passage: The History of Ellis Island.

What did the doctors have to examine?

They thought they were policemen or soldiers. But as these long, long endless lines formed, the doctors had to examine everyone, as quickly as possible, for eye disease, skin disorders, heart disease and more.”. The doctors also had to know a few words of instruction in many languages. “Most of the immigrants were illiterate even in their own ...