From 1925 to the closing of Ellis Island in 1954, only 2.3 million immigrants passed through the New York City port, which still was more than half of all those entering the United States.
Ellis Island is a historical site that opened in 1892 as an immigration station, a purpose it served for more than 60 years until it closed in 1954.
Located at the mouth of Hudson River between New York and New Jersey, Ellis Island saw millions of newly arrived immigrants pass through its doors.
In fact, it has been estimated that close to 40 percent of all current U.S. citizens can trace at least one of their ancestors to Ellis Island.
Penniless, uneducated, unskilled, disease carrying illegal immigrants entered the U.S. from Europe. From 1900 to 1914—the peak years of Ellis Island’s operation—an average of 1,900 people passed through the immigration station every day.
These illegal immigrants were not put in cages, nor were they made to wait, and their children were not taken away from their parents.
So why does anyone think they have more of a right to be in this country than today’s asylum seekers from this continent?
M. A. Garza, Harlingen
