What was angel island

In the s and early s, federal laws allowed South Asian immigrants to become U. Though Angel Island is no longer a functioning port of entry, there have been various efforts over the last five decades to make sure that the stories of what happened to detainees are not forgotten. In , the building was slated to be demolished, but Mississippi Freedom Rider -turned-park ranger Alexander Weiss discovered poems written in Chinese calligraphy in the detention barracks.

In , California Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a bill to fully restore the barracks and preserve the poems. The site opened to visitors in , and since then has been adding to its exhibits. It became a National Historic Landmark in , and a new museum in a rehabbed hospital on the island is expected to open before the end of Write to Arpita Aneja at arpita.

Waxman at olivia. It is only because of empty pockets I can do nothing else. On a weekend summer day, as the morning fog lifts over the San Francisco Bay, China Cove on the northeastern shore of Angel Island State Park is washed in sunlight--tranquil except for the laughter of children playing on the small stretch of sandy beach and the voices of to visitors.

To most first-time visitors, the cove is another picturesque spot from which to picnic and watch tankers and yachts sail by. But to those whose relatives passed through the old immigration barracks on the north slope of the cove, the small, drafty, wooden building--bare and sparse--represents the "Ellis Island of the West.

Its more famous sister island, Alcatraz , often overshadows the largest island in the San Francisco Bay, Angel Island. Activities and attractions offered on the island include picnic sites with breathtaking views, fishing and sunbathing at coves and beaches, hiking trails through wooded terrain, biking on the five-mile Perimeter Road, camping, historic military sites and buildings and an educational tram tour.

The most popular attraction, however, is the old Immigration Station at China Cove. Originally built to process an anticipated flood of European immigrants entering the United States through the newly opened Panama Canal, the Immigration Station on Angel Island opened on Jan.

The facility instead served as a detention center for the majority of the approximately , Chinese immigrants who came to America between and , seeking escape from the economic and political hardships of their homeland. At any one time, between and males and 30 to 50 females were detained on Angel Island. What these newcomers found when they reached America was discrimination and a series of restrictive anti-Asian laws, including the Chinese Exclusion Act of The average detention was two to three weeks, but many stayed for several months.

With little to do on an isolated island, some detainees passed the time by expressing their feelings in poetry that they brushed or carved into the wooden walls. Others simply waited, fearing deportation, yet hoping for a favorable response to their appeals.

Many of the poems carved into the walls are still legible today. Poems lost to layers of paint over the years, were unknowingly, in , documented by two immigrants, Smiley Jann and Tet Yee, who copied the poetry while they awaited ruling of their cases. Over the years, it was suggested a number of times that the Immigration process be moved to another location. The island had been described as inadequate, expensive and inconvenient. In , the government decided to move immigration services to the mainland, their decision hastened by a fire that destroyed the administration building in August of that year.

On November 5th, the last group of about immigrants, including about Chinese, were transferred from Angel Island to temporary quarters in San Francisco. However, following this repeal Chinese immigration control was then consolidated with an earlier Immigration Act, which allowed only Chinese immigrants into the U.

This immigration quota system was abolished by the Immigration Act of , which brought every nationality onto the same immigration footing. Historically home to the Miwok Native Americans, the acre island had since housed a large Mexican cattle ranch and a U.

After numerous delays in the construction, the immigration station was hastily completed and opened on January 21, on the northeastern edge of Angel Island. Ellis Island served as a processing center primarily for European immigrants, who were viewed as easily assimilable into American society and faced relatively few obstacles when it came to entering the United States.

By contrast, many of the immigrants who came through Angel Island were from Asian countries, primarily China, and were subject to long interrogations and detentions to prevent illegal entry. Europeans and first-class passengers would have their papers processed aboard ship and be able to disembark. Asian immigrants and some other groups, including Mexicans and Russians, along with those who were thought to need quarantine for medical purposes, were sent to Angel Island.

An unidentified man being interviewed by U. The Chinese Exclusion Act and related laws allowed entry only to a few elite occupations, as well as children of U. Interrogators screened potential immigrants with detailed questions, including biographical information about their families and the homes where their relatives lived.

Many immigrants went to great lengths, memorizing details about false identities as skilled workers or relatives of Chinese Americans. Authorities at Angel Island submitted immigrants to exhaustive interrogations to try and prevent this kind of illegal entry. While processing arrivals to Ellis Island normally took a few hours or a few days at most, immigrants could spend weeks, months or even years at Angel Island. Due to its isolated location it was thought to be escape-proof, like another nearby facility: Alcatraz.

In August , a fire destroyed the main administration building on Angel Island, and the processing of immigrants was moved to the mainland.

Congress repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act in , but continued to limit immigration from China to just people per year until passage of the Immigration and Nationality Act in