AIISF Newsletter / January 2026
The Perimeter Road on Angel Island, heading toward the immigration station.
A Message From AIISF’s Executive Director
Dear AIISF Friends and Family,
I hope that each of you had the opportunity to enjoy rest and connection over the holidays and to consider the road ahead.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to AIISF’s end-of-year fundraising campaign and/or our Pathways to Immigration Special Campaign! You should be receiving your tax receipts/thank-you letters shortly. Thank you also to the families of Fern Mock and Henry Wong for allowing us to share their stories as part of the campaign. You can read these and many other stories on our Immigrant Voices website.
The start of any new year is often a time when we engage in reflection and resolution-making. At AIISF, we resolve to remain committed to telling the truth about Angel Island’s role in US immigration history, the stories of those who endured processing and detention, and the relevance to current day.
While we don’t have as many public-facing programs this month, rest assured that our team is working hard behind the scenes on several exciting projects. These include:
Adding 20 new exhibit panels on the site, with text in English, traditional Chinese, and Spanish
Developing materials for self-guided tours
Updating our virtual tour experience
Preparing for the return of our annual Family Day event on June 13
Continuing our field-trip scholarship program, which has already supported visits for over 450 students this academic year
And we will be moving forward with the renovation on the outdoor terraces, likely in Summer 2026. Thank you to everyone who has already contributed to our Pathways to Immigration special campaign. If you donated $500 or more but have not yet finalized the text for your engraving line(s), please reach out to us at info@aiisf.org.
We are still $250,000 short of our goal, so if you would like to support this urgent project (with the rare opportunity to have your family name or company name engraved on the site), visit www.aiisf.org/pathways.
Thank you for your continued support of AIISF! I look forward to seeing you this year out on Angel Island, at one of our virtual events, or at our 2026 Immigrant Heritage Awards (Saturday, April 25, on the penthouse floor of the Westin St. Francis San Francisco on Union Square)!
Best wishes for a happy, healthy, and safe 2026,
Edward Tepporn
Executive Director
Accessibility
Out-of-Order Elevators at Immigration Site: The elevators in the Detention Barracks Museum and the Angel Island Immigration Museum (AIIM) are temporarily out-of-order.
The first floor of the barracks is still ADA-accessible, but the second floor is only accessible by stairs. Most of the AIIM exhibits are on the second floor which is currently only accessible by stairs.
Save the Date: 2026 Immigrant Heritage Awards
Pathways to Immigration Special Campaign
Through our Pathways to Immigration Special Campaign, you can commemorate your own immigration journey, honor your family’s immigrant heritage, or show your allyship with immigrant communities.
Whether you or your family came through Angel Island or elsewhere and whether you arrived in the US decades ago or days ago, we welcome your name and your support.
Field Trips
Thank-you cards from students at Sherman Oaks Dual Language Immersion School, who visited Angel Island this past fall.
Spring Tour Times
Reserve a guided tour for January-June 2026! Tours are offered by Angel Island State Parks staff or volunteers, Monday through Friday. A tour is about 1 hour in length and can accommodate up to 40 people (including chaperones).
Scholarships
Thanks to generous support from donors, we provide local, Bay Area public schools with field trip scholarships!
These supplemental funds can help cover transportation costs, tickets, and other expenses related to visiting the Angel Island Immigration Station.
AIISF on YouTube
Did you know that AIISF has a YouTube channel? Check out Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation (@AIISForg) to watch videos such as our Immigrant Voices Shorts: stories of people who were detained at Angel Island.
You can also find a playlist of things to know about the Angel Island Immigration Station (and how to visit it), recordings of past online events, and more!
Upcoming Events
Chinese Couplets: A Film by Felicia Lowe
January 10 | 4-6 pm
Oakland Asian Cultural Center (388 9th Street, Ste. 290, Oakland)
Click here to RSVP
Join us for a FREE screening of Felicia Lowe's Chinese Couplets at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center! The film delves into Lowe's years-long journey to unravel the web of secrecy surrounding her mother’s emigration to America during the Chinese Exclusion era.
After the screening, Lowe will moderate a discussion on "Inheritance and Identity" with panelists Alana Lowe (Felicia's daughter), Grant Din (historical researcher and genealogist), and Sandy Jiang (1.5-generation immigrant and community worker).
AIISF is proud to partner with Oakland Asian Cultural Center, Chinese for Affirmative Action, and the Center for Asian American Media on this screening.
Community Events
There is No Angel on Angel Island: Joanna Tam
December 5, 2025—March 7, 2026 | Wednesdays - Saturdays, 1-6 pm
Mills Gallery (551 Tremont Street, Boston, MA)
Click here to learn more
See Joanna Tam's photographic exhibition, There is No Angel on Angel Island, at the Boston Center for the Arts this winter.
The photographs in the exhibition were taken at the Angel Island Immigration Station using a pinhole camera that Tam made specifically for her Visibility Garment. She put her pinhole camera into the pocket of her garment, stood still, and exposed the photo paper.
The haunting and surreal atmosphere in the pictures speaks to the nature of the immigration station, which is a site of segregation, discrimination, and dehumanization. This project is part of Tam’s larger body of work, Visibility Studies, which unpacks the meaning of hypervisibility, invisibility, and safety for folx whose identities do not align with societal norms.
AIISF is a small (but mighty) nonprofit that has worked tirelessly for the past 42 years to preserve the buildings at Angel Island and to elevate the stories of immigrants. Our ability to continue these preservation efforts and to continue to offer free or low-cost programs is dependent on the support of community members like you. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to AIISF.