ELLIS ISLAND

ELLIS ISLAND

Antallet af håbefulde immigranter steg eksplosivt mod slut-ningen af 1800-tallet. Det foregik i en sådan grad, at Castle Garden ikke længere havde kapacitet til at følge med. Regi-streringen af immigranter blev i løbet af 1890’erne et stats-ligt anliggende, og den amerikanske regering byggede en ny modtagestation på øen Ellis. Immigrationsstationen på Ellis Island bestod af en stor undersøgelses- og registreringsbyg-ning, et midlertidigt tilbageholdelsesområde og et tilknyttet hospitalskompleks. Immigranterne ankom til Ellis Island med færger fra New Yorks havn.

Tusindvis af immigranter passerede gennem hallerne på El-lis Island hver eneste dag. Stedets lydkulisse var et rent ba-belstårn, hvor alverdens sprog blandede sig med hinanden, mens den netop ankomne immigrant så sig selv omgivet af fremmede mennesker. Det overvældende antal immigranter fik regeringen til at indføre yderligere indrejserestriktioner og kvoter på indvandringen til USA. Immigrantloven fra 1882 introducerede en skat på 50 cent på hver nyankommet immi-grant og forhindrede straffede, sindssyge og andre personer, man regnede med ville ligge samfundet til last, i at få adgang til landet.

Immigrantloven blev med jævne mellemrum udvidet, hvilket gjorde det sværere og sværere at komme ind i USA. Love-ne formindskede særligt antallet af immigranter fra enkelte lande som Kina og Japan. I 1921 indførtes et kvotesystem, der begrænsede immigration fra Sydeuropa. Immigranter fra Nordeuropa var mere ønskede.

Flere millioner immigranter ankom i håbet om at blive ame-rikanere, og omkring to procent af dem blev nægtet adgang i den tid Ellis Island fungerede som immigrantstation.

The number of hopeful immigrants grew explosively towards the end of the 19th century, to such an extent that Castle Gar-den no longer had the capacity to keep up, and the registra-tion of immigrants became a federal matter in the 1890s. The American government then built the Ellis Island immigration station, with a large building for the checks and registration, a holding area, and an attached hospital complex. The immi-grants would transfer there on ferries from the port of New York.

The Ellis Island immigration station saw thousands of immi-grants enter its halls every day. There was a cacophony of voices, speaking several foreign languages, and the immi-grant would be surrounded by people. The sheer amount of immigrants led to increased restrictions and quotas being imposed by the government. The Immigration Act of 1882 introduced a $0.50 tax on every new arrival, and specifically banned convicts, lunatics, idiots, and those likely to become public charges from entering the country.

Additions were made to the Immigration Act every few years, making it more and more difficult to enter the US. The laws put severe limitations on the number of immigrants from specific places, like China and Japan. In 1921, a quota system was established, which limited immigration from southern Europe. Immigrants from northern Europe were more desir-able.

Several million immigrants arrived, hoping to become Amer-icans, and about two percent of them were denied entry dur-ing the time Ellis Island served as an immigration station.

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Når dampskibene ankom til New York, som her i ankomsthallen for de skan-dinaviske skibe, skulle passagererne sørge for at få deres baggage med gen-nem terminalen og ombord på færgen til Ellis Island.

When the steamships arrived in New York, the passengers had to get them-selves and their belongings through the terminal to catch the ferry to Ellis Island.

Tusindvis af immigranter ankom til Ellis Island hver dag. Til tider var færgerne så fyldte, at enkelte immigranter faldt overboard.

Thousands of immigrants arrived at Ellis Island every day. Occasionally, the ferries were so full that some immigrants fell overboard.

Immigrantstationen Ellis Island omfattede også et stort hospitalskompleks, med en langt højere kapacitet end noget andet amerikansk hospital i 1890’erne.

The immigration station at Ellis Island, also comprised a large hospital com-plex, with a much higher capacity than any other American hospital in the 1890s.

Enkelte immigranter havde sørget for at veksle til amerikanske penge hjem-mefra, men de fleste var nødt til at benytte sig af skranken til valutaveksling på Ellis Island, som immigranterne passerede efter at have fået deres visa.

Some immigrants had made sure to bring American money with them. Others had to make use of the exchange station at Ellis Island, which the immigrants would pass after they had received their visa.