To leave the home country-whether Italy, Slovakia, Austria, Poland or elsewhere-immigrants had to purchase a place on a ship-whether bound for New York or one of the other U.S. Instead, any error likely happened overseas. Name changes “could happen, but they are not as likely as people have been led to believe,” he says.Įllis Island inspectors were not responsible for recording immigrants’ names. While that seems like a set-up for fudging a difficult name into the record books, or maybe even just making the best guess on a name that perhaps a nonliterate immigrant might not know how to spell correctly, it didn’t go down that way at all, Urban says. On the record-breaking day of April 17, 1907, almost 12,000 immigrants were processed, according to the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation. The inspectors interviewed 400 to 500 people a day-processing a million a year-during the height of the flow, says Urban. The 500 or so employees at the station had to work quickly during those first waves of immigration, processing each immigrant in a matter of 4 to 7 hours. “There was a huge fear that immigrants were going to bring a whole new set of morals into the country that were going to degrade us,” Urban says. The strictures reflected the views of the times, with anarchy and Bolshevism seen as particular threats, says Peter Urban, a National Park Service Ranger in the division of interpretation at Ellis Island, which is overseen by the Park Service. Polygamists and political radicals were added to the no-go list in 1903. In 1875, prostitutes and convicts were barred entry, and in 1882, those convicted of political offenses, lunatics, idiots, and persons likely to become public charges were prohibited. Contract laborers were allowed admittance in 1864, but barred in 1885, according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform. First and second class passengers received a quick inspection while aboard ship, based on the federal notion that “if a person could afford to purchase a first or second class ticket, they were less likely to become a public charge in America due to medical or legal reasons,” says the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation.Īs mass migration began growing, immigration laws started changing. Only those in steerage had to undergo inspection at the Ellis Island station. If an immigrant made it as far as Ellis Island, he or she would likely be allowed into the United States, at least in the first two decades it was open. ![]() But even though many may have had unusual names-at least to an English speaker-it is a persistent myth that Ellis Island inspectors altered birth names of the weary immigrants.Įllis Island holds a special place in the American psyche, having been the fabled point of entry for 12 to 13 million immigrants during the 62 years it was open, from Januuntil November 12, 1954. ![]() ![]() They hoped to settle in a promised land that was opening its doors to many, especially those capable of doing manual labor. Immigration critics argue that immigrants today less likely to assimilate and succeed than prior generations of immigrants, including those who came in 1907.One hundred twenty-five years ago, the nation’s first federal immigration station opened on Ellis Island in New York Harbor, built to handle the throngs who were coming to America during the late 19th century to escape famine, war and poverty. The descendants of those 1907 arrivals are unquestionably American. Today, we know these fears about non-assimilation were entirely unfounded. Opponents of immigration raised pointed questions about how new immigrants would fit into America, claimed they would take jobs away from Americans, and fanned the flames of xenophobia. population had climbed from less than 10 percent to more than 14 percent, roughly what it is today. Aspiring Americans didn’t need much in 1907-there were no visas or papers, and the immigrant share of the U.S. Then, as now, immigration was a highly controversial topic. ![]() But, things were not so simple or straightforward. They were eager to put down roots, achieve the American Dream, and raise their children and grandchildren as fully fledged Americans. The trajectory of the 1907 immigrants seems simple. And today, more than 110 years later, tens of millions of Americans today can claim to be their descendants. By the end of the year, more than 1 million other immigrants would join them in starting new lives as Americans. By the day’s end, they had set the record for the number of immigrants processed in a single day-11,747. On April 17, 1907, thousands upon thousands of immigrants filed through Ellis Island’s Registry Room, a room no larger than two high school basketball courts.
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