Angel Island Immigration Station
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Angel Island
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Angel Island Dormitory
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| Nearest city | Tiburon, California |
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| Coordinates | 37°52′11″N 122°25′34″W / 37.869712°N 122.426006°WCoordinates: 37°52′11″N 122°25′34″W / 37.869712°N 122.426006°W |
| Area | 731.8 acres (296.1 ha) |
| Built | 1775 |
| Architect | Unknown |
| Architectural style | Mission/Spanish Revival |
| NRHP reference # | 71000164 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 14, 1971 |
| Designated NHLD | December 9, 1997 |
Angel Island Immigration Station was an immigration station located in San Francisco Bay which operated from January 21, 1910 to November 5, 1940, where immigrants entering the United States were detained and interrogated. Angel Island (California) is an island in San Francisco Bay. It is currently a State Park administered by California State Parks and a California Historical Landmark. The island was originally a fishing and hunting site for Coastal Miwok Indians, then it was a haven for Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala. Later, it was developed as a cattle ranch, then, starting with the Civil War, the island served as a U.S. Army post. During the island's Immigration Station period, the island held hundreds of thousands of immigrants, the majority from China, Japan, India and the Philippines. The detention facility was considered ideal because of its isolated location, making it very easy to control immigrants, contain outbreaks of disease, and enforce the new immigration laws. The station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places under the title Angel Island, U.S. Immigration Station.
Angel Island Immigration Station, sometimes known as "Ellis Island of the West," began construction in 1905 in an area known as China Cove. The main difference between Ellis Island and Angel Island was that the majority of the immigrants that traveled through Angel Island were from Asian countries, such as China, Japan, and India. The facility was created to monitor the flow of Chinese immigrants entering the country after the implementation of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882. The Act only allowed entrance to merchants, clergy, diplomats, teachers, and students, barring laborers. The Act did give the government an idea of how to begin to regulate immigration, and realize the potential effect of immigration on the economy.
At Ellis Island, only between one and three percent of all arriving immigrants were rejected; at Angel Island, the number was about 18 percent. The Chinese were targeted due to the large influx of immigrants that were arriving in the United States. Chinese immigrants were seen as a threat because they occupied low-wage jobs, and after the economic downfall during the 1870s, Americans experienced serious unemployment problems. This resulted in increased discrimination against the Chinese, labeling them as unsuitable Americans due to their appearance and social status. After executing a series of restrictive laws prohibiting the majority of Chinese immigration, the detention center was opened in 1910. Immigrants arrived from 84 different countries, with Chinese immigrants accounting for the largest ethnic group to enter San Francisco until 1915 when Japanese immigrants outnumbered the Chinese for the first time.
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Wikipedia