Ellis Island Immigration Crisis

Ellis Island, opening in 1892, was a federal immigration station that helped restrict immigration. It ran for more than sixty years and granted legal immigrant status for millions of Americans. Ellis Island came out of the demand from the American people to prevent Southern and Eastern Europeans from inhabiting the United States and all of the negative consequences of their residency. The influx of immigrants caused agitation among the American native-born. Between 1880 and 1920, America had more than twenty million immigrants, and many of them seized the jobs of native born Americans since they were willing to work for less. The rapidity of the immigrant population prompted nativists to have animosity among other religious groups and those who had different political views. For example, the Jews were despised because of

The U.S federal government also had issues with immigrants about their health and safety. In order to prevent outbreaks in the urban areas the immigrants would reside in, the U.S federal government had legitimate reasons to restrict immigration. Combining this with the fact that many of these immigrants were poor and uneducated, the birth of Ellis Island is inevitable result of demand and necessity to the immigration crisis. Ellis Island was meant to restrict immigrants from entering the United States, but many still entered. It came about after the government converted the former military base into an immigration center. Many individuals pressed the government to take charge and control immigration, but the people did not have as much sway as big business. The big businesses thrived