A recent letter writer mentioned an utopian era where immigrants landed at Ellis Island diseased, uneducated, and penniless and were immediately welcomed into our country. Not true. I have been to Ellis Island, and thanks to the History Channel and my tour of the facility, those statements are mostly untrue. Like my favorite Detective Joe Friday used to say, “just the facts”, and the writer’s facts are horribly full of fallacies.
Yes, millions of immigrants did pass through Ellis Island, but not all made entry that day. According to the History Channel, 10% of those were detained for medical, mental and other physical ailments. These detentions could last for days, months and in rare cases years. Due to cheap labor demands, the majority did enter without passports and quickly. So that part is true. But those that were deemed unfit for entry were tagged, and I quote from the History Channel, “Those marked, Moreno says, were removed from the line and taken across the room where you were locked in a pen, a cage, called the doctor’s pen until the doctors were free to continue further examinations or questioning.”
So there you have it; the facts are there for all to see and read. I also suggest readers research the results of unchecked migration. The results are a weakened economy and social unrest. A country cannot just open its borders to all who wish to enter and has already proven to be a disaster in Europe where this occurred in recent years. There is no irony here “just the facts.”
joaquin Longoria, Mission
