Angel Island is an island in San Francisco Bay, California. During a 30 year span (1910-1940), Angel Island allowed nearly 1 million Asian Immigrants to enter the country. The Department of War gave land, so that the immigration center could be built in 1905. The main difference between Ellis and Angel Island is that Ellis Island served to people crossing the Atlantic Ocean, while Angel Island served to people crossing the Pacific Ocean. Most of them were Asian Immigrants. Angel Island became known as the “Ellis Island of the West.”
People that wanted to come into the country at Angel Island had to face very hard questioning and had to stay on the islands for weeks during a detention period.. While waiting to find out whether or not the immigrants would be able to come into the country they had to wait in a filthy and cramped building. Many of the immigrants wrote poems in Chinese on the walls of the buildings about the hard times they endured trying to come into the country. The immigrants at Ellis Island had an easier and less harsh time coming into the country. Angel Island was very harsh compared to Ellis Island. If I wanted to come into the country back then, I would have wanted to come into this great country through Ellis Island.
In 1940 a fire burned down the administration building, so all immigrants coming into the country after the fire came in through San Francisco. During World War II Prisoners of War were kept on Angel Island because it was off of the main land. Angel Island was closed in 1963 and was made into the Angel Island State Park. In 2005 it was again closed so that it could be restored. Angel Island was reopened on February 15, 2009. I think that it would be a wonderful place to go and visit and see the poems that were written.I think that it was terrible that the Asian Immigrants that were processed in Angel Island faced a lot harder time than the immigrants at Ellis Island. I think that these people were very brave writing poems about their hard time, instead of dwelling about all the pain and suffering they were going through. I think that it is terrible that the administration building was burned because all of the files were probably burnt, so families trying to research their family trees probably cannot find records at Angel Island. In my opinion Angel Island is a very interesting place.
Comments