United States Immigration Station, Angel Island

Infobox_nrhp2 | name =Angel Island, U.S. Immigration Station
nhld=yes

---

caption = Angel Island Dormitory
nearest_city= Tiburon, California
lat_degrees = 37
lat_minutes = 51
lat_seconds = 44
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 122
long_minutes = 25
long_seconds = 53
long_direction = W
locmapin = California
area =
built =1775
architect= Unknown
architecture= Mission/Spanish Revival [http://www.nr.nps.gov/Red%20Books/71000164.red.pdf NPS Red Book] ]
added = October 14, 1971
designated_nhl = December 9, 1997 [http://www.nps.gov/history/nhl/designations/Lists/CA01.pdf California NHL List] ]
governing_body = State
refnum=71000164cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2008-04-15|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]

The United States Immigration Station, Angel Island is a former immigration facility on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, California. Between 1910 and 1940, the Angel Island Immigration Station processed approximately 1 million Asian immigrants entering into the United States. It is a National Historic Landmark and is now part of Angel Island State Park.

History

The War Department provided space to build the immigration center in 1905. Similar to Ellis Island which served those crossing the Atlantic Ocean, Angel Island provided the same service for those crossing the Pacific Ocean. It is estimated that 1 million people were processed through the island. [http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/feature/asia/1999/angel.htm Celebrate Asian History] ] , sometimes referred to as "The Ellis Island of the West". The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 provided tough entry restrictions, so many immigrants waited on the island for as long as two years while they exhausted appeals.

A fire burned down the administration building in 1940, and all subsequent immigration processing took place in San Francisco.

During WWII, POW's were kept on the island and then in 1950, a Nike missile base which was closed in 1962.

Today

In 1963, the entire island was turned into Angel Island State Park. In 2005, the Immigration center was closed for restoration and is scheduled to reopen in 2009 [ [http://www.angelisland.org/is_renovationsintro.htm Angel Island Restoration] ]

Poems

Many of these immigrants carved poems in Chinese on the walls of the island's buildings, poems which have been anthologized and studied by scholars

References

External links

* [http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=468 Angel Island State Park official website]
* [http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/ca/ Early History of the California Coast, a National Park Service "Discover Our Shared Heritage" Travel Itinerary]
* [http://www.angelisland.org Angel Island Association – "docent led guided tours/historical interpretation"]
* [http://www.angelisland.com Angel Island Company, State Parks concessionaire for tours, bike rentals, and catered picnics]
* [http://web4homes.com/rendezvous/history.htm History of Angel Island]
* [http://www.paperson.com/history.htm One Chinese American Family history of coming to America as documented in the Chinese Exclusion Act Case Files in the National Archives]
* [http://www.aiisf.org/ Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation]
* [http://www.kearnystreet.org/AngelIsland/ "made in usa: Angel Island Shhh"] is a rice-sack flag installation that explores the identity secrets of Chinese immigrants detained and interrogated in the United States.