FAQs

Located in San Francisco Bay, the U.S. Immigration Station at Angel Island served as a processing and detainment center for hundreds of thousands of immigrants and emigrants between 1910 and 1940. Arrivals included people from China, Japan, Russia, India, Korea, Australia, and the Philippines. Angel Island detainees experienced overcrowded facilities, humiliating medical examinations, intense interrogations, and countless days (sometimes months and even years) of waiting at the Immigration Station pending either approval of their applications or deportation. Today, the Immigration Station’s unique feature is the Chinese poetry etched into the walls of the barracks speaking of the detainees’ sadness and isolation. In 1997, Angel Island Immigration Station became a National Historic Landmark. It is one of only two sites related to Asian American history (the other is the Japanese American Internment Camp Manzanar) that hold national landmark status. Return to top

What will I see there?

The Immigration Station site has a few remaining buildings: a power plant, hospital, pump house, mule barn, and the detention barracks. The detention barracks is a two-story structure that contains over 300 Chinese poems carved and written on the walls as well as inscriptions in Russian, Japanese, Korean, Sanskrit, and German. One large room downstairs is open to the public for self-guided tours, but to see the entire barracks you must sign up for a paid group tour. Visitors will see replicated bunks, furniture and luggage of the time period, photo displays depicting life at the Immigration Station as well as hear the Chinese poems in English and Chinese via audio panels.

On the exterior of the detention barracks, a large open space, the Administrative Footprint, simulates the former Administration Building where immigrants were registered and questioned. A large granite table has Certificates of Identity, the papers given to immigrants upon acceptance to the U.S., carved onto its surface. Other maps and displays explain the dining room and residential quarters for women and children that were in the Administration Building.

A mess hall that dates back to the site’s use as a World War II prisoner of war processing center stands adjacent to the detention barracks and serves as a gift store, small theater for video presentations, and display area for artwork.

The site also has restrooms, a drinking fountain, a historic fog warning bell once on the wharf’s pier, and a monument donated in 1979 by Victor Bergeron, owner of Trader Vic’s restaurant in San Francisco. Return to top

How many people went through the Angel Island Immigration Station?

Because the Immigration Station fell under the jurisdiction of several government agencies, record keeping methods were not standardized and exact numbers of people from year to year are not always available. Researchers estimate that over 30 years, 1 million people were processed through the port of San Francisco and Angel Island on their way into or out of the country: 341,000 aliens and returning residents and 209,000 U.S. citizens arrived in the U.S. and 483,000 aliens and 183,000 U.S. citizens departed the country. Approximately 300,000 or 70% of the arrivals were detained at Angel Island for immigration inspection, including: 100,000 Chinese, 85,000 Japanese, 8,000 South Asians, 8,000 Russians and Jews, 1,000 Koreans, 1,000 Filipinos, and at least 400 Mexicans.

Source: Erika Lee and Judy Yung, Angel Island: Immigrant Gateway to America.

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How long did people stay at the Immigration Station?

Some people at Angel Island Immigration Station only stayed overnight or a few days, while other stayed for months. Chinese immigrants were detained on average two to three weeks. Immigrants appealing their cases were detained much longer. The longest recorded stay was about two years. Return to top

What were the conditions like in the barracks of the Immigration Station?

Detainees lived in crowded prison-like conditions, segregated by gender and ethnic group. They were housed in cramped quarters, sleeping on two or three-tiered folding metal bunks, with minimal privacy. Rooms were locked at night, guards were stationed outside in guard towers, and the perimeter was fenced in. Detainees passed time by listening to records, playing games, reading available materials, and spending limited time outdoors in a fenced yard. Women could take accompanied walks and received English lessons and sewing materials from local church members. Return to top

What is a “paper son or paper daughter?”

Starting in 1882, the U.S. banned immigration for Chinese for all but a few exempt classes, including merchants, scholars, students, and diplomats. In order to circumvent these restrictive laws, many Chinese immigrants bought false papers, claiming to be members of the exempt classes or children of U.S. citizens on paper only.

The 1906 San Francisco earthquake created conditions that permitted the marketing of immigration papers to willing buyers at home in China. The resulting fire destroyed birth records housed in City Hall. With the records gone, the undocumented could claim to be American citizens and then bring their children from China, children that may or may not have existed. These “paper names” could be sold to those who would adopt a new identity. In order to pass inspection by U.S. officials, immigrants had to memorize detailed histories of the new families they affiliated themselves with to enter this country. Many Chinese families that have arrived in the United States before 1965 have a “real” family name and a “paper” name. Return to top

What were the interrogations like?

Entry hearings were held for all applicants entering the United States. Inspectors would ask applicants about their personal history to establish that their entry claims were legitimate. Officials then questioned family members and other witnesses to corroborate their information using different translators to prevent collusion. Officials probed with detailed questions about an applicant’s family relations, village life, and occupation and studied testimonies for discrepancies. Typical questions might include: How many windows did your house have? What direction does your house face? How many steps to your house? Who lived in all the houses surrounding yours?

Inspectors had wide discretionary power in determining the fate of each applicant. Because of the great specificity of the questions, many applicants failed to answer all their questions correctly, which gave immigration officials ample reason to deport them. Applicants could appeal their case to federal court, which took time, money and effort. Officials in Washington DC overturned the majority of the Angel Island inspector’s decisions. Return to top

Why can’t we see the poems better? What is being done to save the poems?

Confined to the barracks, with little to do and aching for release, Chinese detainees wrote poems on the walls with brush and ink and carved them into the wood. The barracks also contain other writings in Russian, English, German, Punjabi, and Japanese (some written by enemy aliens awaiting deportation to Japan when the Station was converted to a prisoner of war processing center during World War II). Immigration Station officials saw these writings as “graffiti” and filled the carvings with putty and painted the walls to cover the writing. Today, the putty is shrinking at a different rate than the wood and some of the poems are becoming more clearly revealed.

Two Chinese detainees, Smiley Jann in 1931 and Tet Yee in 1932, recorded about 135 poems that existed up to that time. The poems are documented and translated in the book Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island 1910-1940, by Him Mark Lai, Genny Lim, and Judy Yung. Today, Chinese poetry scholars are now identifying additional poems, studying, retranslating and reinterpreting the poems, and pointing out significant examples. Conservation efforts will go hand in hand with plans for interpretation at the site. Currently, the putty in the walls is stabilizing the carved poems so that they will not be lost. Return to top

What did the detainees eat?

Food was an ongoing complaint. Cooks served steamed, Americanized stews of rice and vegetables. Chinese cooks were later hired to help improve the food. Some detainees received food from friends or relatives. In keeping with the segregated conditions, women and men ate in alternating shifts. European immigrants were served a different menu usually consisting of meat and potatoes. Return to top

How is Angel Island different from Ellis Island?

While often called the “Ellis Island of the West,” Angel Island Immigration Station, was in fact quite different. Angel Island was established through federal legislation aimed at stemming the tide of immigration. Officials referred to it as the “Guardian of the Western Gate.” From 1892 to 1954, Ellis Island was the principal federal immigration station in the United States processing twelve million immigrants from all over the world, most from Eastern and Southern Europe. The average immigrant stay on Ellis Island was not lengthy. The average processing time at Ellis Island was two to three hours. In contrast, immigrants crossing the Pacific between 1910 and 1940 endured crowded facilities, humiliating medical examinations, intense interrogations, and countless days of waiting at the Angel Island Immigration Station during the years of its operation. Return to top

What happened after the Immigration Station closed?

In 1940 the government closed Angel Island Immigration Station when a fire destroyed the Administration Building. During World War II, the U.S. military built a few additional buildings and converted the site to a prisoner of war processing center. Japanese and German enemy aliens were held at the Island before being transferred to more permanent camps. (It was never as a concentration camp for Japanese Americans). After the war, the military abandoned the buildings and the site languished in obscurity.

In 1963, California State Parks assumed the ownership stewardship of the immigration site when Angel Island became a state park. In the 1970s, the Park slated the site for demolition until a park ranger discovered the writings on the walls and informed the Asian American community. Efforts by Angel Island Immigration Station Historical Advisory Committee (AIISHAC), which later became Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation (AIISF), helped secure state appropriations to restore and preserve the barracks as a state monument. Today, tens of thousands of visitors pass through the Immigration Station. Many learn about this forgotten chapter of immigration history for the first time; others return to revisit their own or their family’s experiences there. Return to top

Why isn’t more known about the Immigration Station?

For years little was known about Angel Island Immigration Station. Former detainees did not share their stories of incarceration with their children, wanting to put their unpleasant experience behind them. Chinese immigrants who came under false names lived in fear of government retribution and even possible deportation. Until the ethnic studies movements in the late 1960s and early 1970s, where students demanded courses about their own history, Angel Island was largely ignored by historians. When the Station was “rediscovered” and saved from demolition in the 1970s, researchers started the process of conducting oral histories with detainees and translating the poems. Although we know much more about the Station today, we still hope to learn more about the experiences of those who were detained there. By interviewing additional people and looking through government records, scholars as well as family historians are providing new information about the experiences of those at Angel Island. Return to top

What is currently happening on the site?

After a major restoration effort from 2005 to 2008, the Immigration Station reopens in February 2009. The next phase of the project is the restoration of the Hospital, a two-story, 10,000 sq. foot structure, that treated immigrants who became ill at the Immigration Station. The restored Hospital will contain additional exhibition space, a genealogy center, conference space as well as recreation of the hospital wards. Fundraising continues for the $16 million project. Return to top

How did Angel Island get its name?

In August 1775, Spanish Naval Lieutenant Juan Manuel de Ayala sailed his ship into San Francisco Bay on a mission to develop an accurate description of the bay for other Spanish ship captains. He named the island “Isla de Los Angeles” (Spanish for “Island of the Angels”), after the Catholic feast day of Our Lady of the Angels, which coincided with his arrival. Return to top

What else is on Angel Island?

Other buildings remain on Angel Island, including buildings related to the Quarantine Station located in Ayala Cove; Camp Reynolds, a camp built in 1868 for the Union for the Civil War then used as headquarters, and rest camp, and replacement depot of troops in the western territories; and Fort McDowell, which processed troops being sent to the Pacific during World War I and II. Angel Island State Park together with the Angel Island Association hold programs related to these sites. Return to top

How can I find information about relatives who came through Angel Island?

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) www.nara.gov/regional/sanfranc.html in San Bruno holds case files for the majority of immigrants detained at Angel Island Immigration Station. NARA staff assists researchers with their requests and it is recommended to call NARA 650-238-3501 in advance to make an appointment. When doing your research it is helpful to know the full name and date of entry of the person you are seeking information on. It is also helpful to bring any original documents that you might have. Researchers should note that some records have been destroyed by the 1940 fire or when the government consolidated their records, and only a portion has been catalogued to date.

National Archives and Records Administration Early Arrivals Records Search http://casefiles.berkeley.edu UC Berkeley’s Institute of Business and Economic Research and the Haas School of Business in partnership with the National Archives and Records Administration has created an on-line database of arrival records from San Francisco and Hawaii, Researchers can look up a name to find the case file number. When visiting the National Archives, researchers can provide the file number to the NARA staff so that the staff can pull the file. Return to top

Where can I find out more information about the Immigration Station?

Our Resources page has a selection of books, films/videos, community organizations, and web sites that relate to the history of Angel Island Immigration Station. We welcome hearing about any additional resources that you come across. Return to top

What organizations are involved with the Angel Island Immigration Station?

There are four organizations involved with different aspects of the Immigration Station. Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation (AIISF) is the community steward of the Immigration Station, serving as educator, advocate and preservationist for the site. AIISF’s primary goals are to lead the effort to preserve, restore, and interpret Angel Island Immigration Station; and to promote educational activities that further the understanding of Pacific Rim immigration in American history. AIISF works in partnership with California State Parks which owns and manages Angel Island State Park. The National Park Service has lent its resources and expertise in the restoration of the Angel Island Immigration Station site and administers the National Historic Landmark program. Our friends at the Angel Island Association (AIA) support the California State Parks staff and volunteers for Angel Island State Park as a whole. Angel Island State Park schedules the tours, which are given by Angel Island State Park staff and volunteers. Return to top

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