Angel Island Immigration Station

Angel Island is a small isle in San Francisco Bay with a big history. In the 1800s, it was a military base of both the Civil War and the Spanish-American War. In the early 20th century, construction of an immigration station began amid public controversy. The station opened in 1910 and was billed as the Ellis Island of the West.

Prior to the opening of the Angel Island Immigration Station, thousands of Chinese nationals entered the U.S during the Gold Rush. A backlash of discriminatory legislation prohibited them from gold fields and into less lucrative, low-paying jobs. Many Chinese who were enticed to the U.S. with dreams of striking it rich instead found themselves laying tracks for the Central Pacific Railroad. The laws enacted left little choices other than to become cheap labor.

In the 1870s, the economy took a dive and rampant unemployment led to political turmoil over Asian immigrants who worked for low wages. In 1882, the first immigration law was passed in the United States barring “lunatics and felons” from entering the country. Later that year, the federal government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 barring Chinese laborers from entering the United States. The law was originally for ten years but was extended and expanded until China became a U.S. ally in World War II. Even during the war only 105 Chinese were allowed into the United States each year. It wasn’t until the immigration laws were rewritten in the 1960s that discrimination against Chinese immigrants was written out of legislation.

Within the U.S. Immigration Service, the Angel Island Immigration Station was known as the Guardian of the Western Gate, built to control the flow of immigrants from Asia to the United States. Asian nationals were often detained at Angel Island for months before being admitted to the United States or deported to their homeland. The facility was a detention center specifically chosen because of its isolation in the San Francisco Bay.