“They asked us questions, ‘How much is two and one? How much is two and two?’But the next young girl, also from our city, went and they asked her, ‘How do you wash stairs, from the top or from the bottom?’ She says, ‘I don’t come to America to wash stairs.’”
This is a quote from Pauline Notkoff, a Polish Jewish immigrant who came to America in 1917 and was interviewed in 1985.
Ellis Island had a highly efficient institution to present the United States with a healthy workforce. The goal was always to admit people not turn away. The nation’s health service was aware that people had put their savings and health at risk to sail across the ocean and leaving some family members behind to enter the United States. They wanted to accept and not reject if at all possible. Ellis Island opened on January 1st, 1892, and inspected about 3,000 to 5,000 immigrants a day. The immigrants were required to undergo physical, mental, and legal exams to determine if they were allowed to enter the United States.4 out of every ten Americans can trace at least one ancestor to Ellis Island.
Ellis Island was once a large sandy expanse of land that was originally referred to as Gull Island by the indians who resided on the nearby shores. It was renamed Oyster Island in 1630 when the Dutch controlled New York. When the british gained control they restored the name Gull Island.
During the mid 1760’s the island was used as a spot to hang pirates. In 1785 Samuel Ellis, a New Yorker, bought the property thus giving it the name Ellis Island. Ellis turned it into a picnic spot. He passed it on to his descendants after he passed. The U.S. Government purchased the property in 1808 and built a fort on the property called Fort Gibson. The U.S. Navy used Ellis I...
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...llars with you?” “Have you ever been in prison?” “Are you married?” “Do you have more than one husband or wife?” “Are you a foe of the government?“
An immigrant could be detained for further inquiry if his or her answers differed from the answers listed on the manifest.
Ellis Island was considered the island of hope for most people, but for others it was the island of tears. If an immigrant did not pass their exams, they would be detained.
Legal detainees resided in a dormitory room located on the third floor. They could wait days or even a month to hear their case reviewed in the hearing room.
Medical detainees were treated at the island’s hospital or keep in quarantine for weeks or even months. Eventually, a Board of Special Inquiry would review an individual's medical report and decide whether to allow him into the United States or to send him back.
The island is about 4 square miles and is today a place for tourism in the great lakes. Many thousands of years ago though this was a little piece of land with bluffs reaching high above its surroundings and was a merely a small piece of land surrounded by water. It was because of these bluffs the appearance of the island resembled a turtle and led to it being named “The Great Turtle” (Piljac, 1998). Currently the island reaches several hundred feet above the lake and it’s because of this geography that many nations saw this as a perfect military post and would be used over and over again throughout its history as such.
time in detention camps. How far the principle of this case would be extended before plausible reasons would play out, I do not know." (pg. 1389).
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
Ellis Island and Angel Island were two places immigrants could enter the United States. Ellis Island helped transform America by giving people of other races and ethnicity an opportunity to restart their lives. With Ellis Island letting people enter the United States it brought more people, diversity and jobs. An estimated 17 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island from 1892-1924. Over one million Asians entered America through Angel Island (Lee, Erika and Judy Young). America was soon made up mostly of immigrants. Without immigrants, the United States wouldn’t be as large as it is today.
In order for the reader to understand how colonization affected Ocean Island, the reader needs to understand the history of the Island. In Pearl Binder’s book, Treasure Islands: The Trials of the Banabans, she tells of what Ocean Island first looked like. Ocean Island, or Banaba, is one of the many islands in the Pacific. It is situated almost exactly on the equator. The whole island is three miles long and two and a half miles wide. The highest point of Banaba is 270 feet. The island was rocky but had quite a bit of land for growing crops. After living peacefully by themselves for a long time, the Banabans allowed travelers to enter their land, which changed their lives forever. Blackbirders, who are labor recruiters, came to Banaba in 1862 as a result of the Civil War happening in the U.S. (Binder). The need for cotton was in high demand so they needed workers to harvest it all. The blackbirders came and kidnapped strong young men from the villages to use them for working in Fiji, Honolulu, South America, and Queensland where enterprising planters had started cotton plantations. While slavery was ending in the U.S., it was just starting in the Pacific (Binder). At the end of the nineteenth century...
Luchins, Abraham S. "The Rise and Decline of the American Asylum Movement in the 19th
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
The word interment definition is “the state of being confined as a prisoner, especially for political or military reasons” (Dictionary.com) By saying that they are a prisoner for political or military reason was wrong. The reason they were confined as a prisoner was a matter of race.
The Spanish destroyed all the buildings and made a new city on the island and used it as their new capital. They named the country New Spain and set up a government. They expanded their rule to most of Mexico, and brought over people to live in the new country. The island city is still the capitttal of the Mexico and is called Mexico City.
“The traveller was thinking: it is always questionable to intervene decisively in strange circumstances. He was neither a citizen of the penal colony nor of the citizen of the state to which it belonged. If he wanted to condemn the execution or even hinder it, people could say to him: You are a foreigner-keep quiet. He would have nothing in response to that…” (Kafka 9). In In the Penal Colony the traveller was invited to witness an execution and provide his opinion. However, he is not aware of the influence that is opinion has. Travellers are used to observe societies, without directly altering them. He arrives at the penal colony unaware of it’s political state.. The passing of a leader, and the induction of a New Commandant has caused tension.
Illegal immigrants (asylum seekers) face being put into detention centers (prisons). In these centers, immigrants face the same persecution as before. Those running from pain, need not to feel it anymore. These detention centers allow immigrants very few privileges, if any at all. In an article by Washington Times titled “ Illegal Immigrant Detention Centers Rife With Abuses, U.S. Civil Rights Commission report finds” it claims, “Some detention facilities---both government -run and private ones operating on contracts ---don 't provide good medical care, deny illegal immigrants the chance to try to get lawyers to help them with their cases, look the other way when rape or sexual abuse occurs”(Dinan). Rather than treating immigrants as prisoners, These immigrants need to be provided with adequate care. Providing immigrants with this kind of shelter, kindness, food, and other necessities will push the immigrants towards the next step, staying here, finding a job, and expanding the
Immigrants came to the United States for different reasons, but Laskin stated the three main reasons were “land, freedom, and hope.” (9) If they immigrated to the United States, they could experience what other immigrants sent letters home about. Most immigrants traveled to the new world with expectations
Initially it was Spanish territory, but the French and English also assumed control of the island at various points in history. Pirates and privateers used the island as a safe refuge to restock their supply of fresh water and supplies(Hartog, 55).
“You are in America, speak English.” As a young child hearing these words, it did not only confuse me but it also made me question my belonging in a foreign country. As a child I struggled with my self-image; Not being Hispanic enough because of my physical appearance and not being welcomed enough in the community I have tried so hard to integrate myself with. Being an immigrant with immigrant parents forces you to view life differently. It drives you to work harder or to change the status quo for the preconceived notion someone else created on a mass of people. Coming to America filled me with anxiety, excitement, and even an unexpected wave of fear.
The features of enhanced confinement that consistently draw the most profound condemnation revolve around: the often-brutal forms and compassionless deprivations in which these units or facilities operate, the harrowing living conditions that inmates are compelled to endure, the resulting physical and psychological damage to body and soul, and the questionable legality of such confinement. Leading human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are regularly outing the United States for operating torturous prisons that house convicted criminals in the most deplorable and extra-legal conditions. (Marion Experiment pgs.