Ellis Island is an island which is localized at the mouth of the Hudson in New York, half a mile north of the Statue of Liberty. It was in the first half of the twentieth century, the main entrance of immigrants arriving in the U.S. The island is managed by the federal government and is now part of the national monument of the Statue of Liberty, under the jurisdiction of the national Park Service of the United States and has become a museum. Territorially, it is shared between the City of Jersey City, New Jersey and New York City in the State of New York. Ellis Island was the subject of border disputes between the two U.S. states.
Before 1892 and the opening of Ellis Island as a reception center for immigrants in New York, the landing of passengers was done at Clinton or Fort Clinton castle, at the southern tip of Manhattan.
Ellis Island was then called Fort Gibson and was a military site that was part of the defense system of the city against the British fleet. The island then appeared as a better solution, to isolate migrants prior to their acceptance in the United States and to prevent escapes. Originally called Little Oyster Island, Ellis Island is named in reference to Samuel Ellis, colon probably from Scotland, who was the owner in the 1770s, before its acquisition by the State of New York.
The federal center of immigration opened on 1 January 1892 and was closed November 12, 1954 after the passage of more than 12 million immigrants by the Immigration Office of the United States.
During the war, the island was used to intern German merchants and other enemies of war and as a center to help the sick and wounded American soldiers on their return from the European front. Ellis Island also received tens of thousands of immigrants each year during this period, much less before the war. After this, the number went up to the level before the war.
After 1924 and the quota laws of immigration Johnson-Reed, who declined considerably Immigration and transferred to the embassy's role to choose the future arrivals, the center became a place of detention and deportation for foreigners reactions. During and after World War II, Ellis Island served as a training base for coast guards and camp for prisoners of war. Approximately 7,000 Germans, Italians and Japanese were detained on the island. The Internal Security Act of 1950 prohibits members of the communist and fascist organizations to immigrate to the United States. Several of them were detained at Ellis Island until 1952, when many laws were changed. In November 1954, Ellis Island was finally closed became a heritage site. The island is on the National Register of American historical sites. Today it houses a museum reachable by ferry from Liberty State Park in Jersey and from Manhattan.
After signing the National Origins Acts in 1924, the only immigrants coming to Ellis Island were deported or war refugees. Currently, more than 100 million Americans have one or more ancestors who came to America through Ellis Island.
