The Inspection And Registration Of Immigrants (1906)

Introduction

The article "Inspection and Registration of Immigrants" details the systematic process at Ellis Island in 1906, where immigrants underwent medical, legal, and identity inspections. It describes the comprehensive procedures implemented to ensure only eligible individuals were admitted to the United States.

Immigrants Land at Ellis Island. GGA Image ID # 1f22039953

Immigration and Its Effects Upon The United States (Note 90)

The systematic and uniform examination of aliens began with the establishment of the Immigration Bureau in 1891. Under the present law, the Commissioner-General, a figure of significant authority, has general supervision of the administration of immigration matters. He can detail officers to visit penal and charitable institutions and ascertain the number of aliens therein. He may send officers abroad to study the conditions of immigration. (Note 91)

The Commissioner-General is under the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, or practically, one of the assistant Secretaries of that department. The Secretary appoints all immigration officers and employees and fixes their compensation.

Even though the Bureau has existed for fifteen years, the inspection of immigrants is a complex and varied process that differs at the different ports, according to the number to be inspected, the importance of the port, and the physical accommodations for such service.

Since three-fourths of all aliens pass through the port of New York, a brief description of the practical inspection method may be interesting.

Registry Hall at Ellis Island. GGA Image ID # 1f21f50997

When a ship arrives in New York harbor, telegraphic notice of its entrance is sent ahead, and the vessel is boarded by the State quarantine inspectors, immigration inspectors, and surgeons.

The State authorities first examine for diseases that would subject the vessel to quarantine, and the immigration inspectors and Marine Hospital officers examine all the first and second cabin passengers. The examination of cabin passengers is comparatively recent and was necessitated by the fact that many inadmissible aliens undertook to travel in the second cabin to avoid inspection.

In examining passengers, inspectors can use their discretion to ask any or all of the questions on the manifests and can avoid absurd and unnecessary inquiries. Upon completing the cabin inspection, the ship's surgeon reports any persons in the ship's hospital. If advisable, these are presently transferred to the immigrant hospital.

Inspection Room at Ellis Island. GGA Image ID # 1f21aeb1d6

The steerage passengers and any other aliens the inspectors hold are then taken with their baggage upon barges and carried to Ellis Island. They enter a large general room separated from the rest of the building by iron gratings.

The main hall on the second floor is also divided lengthwise by gratings into a series of parallel passageways. Before reaching these, however, immigrants have to pass in single file before two surgeons of the Marine Hospital Service, stationed a little distance apart, who divide the inspection between them, one examining general physique and the other for trachoma.

Any doubtful individuals are held for a more thorough physical examination, and idiots, insane, and diseased persons are certified as such. Minor defects are noted on the immigrant's card mentioned below, which he has already received on the ship and passed along for general inspection.

Detained Immigrants in a Waiting Room at Ellis Island. GGA Image ID # 1f21557e26

The women are examined individually by a matron or her assistants, whose business it is to ascertain whether or not they are pregnant. This increases the probability of their becoming public charges unless they can produce satisfactory evidence that they will be taken care of and supported.

Persons with loathsome or dangerous contagious diseases, people with epilepsy, idiots, insane persons, and those physically defective so that they are liable to become public charges, and pregnant women are at once held for examination before a board of special inquiry.

The remaining immigrants are then segregated into columns passing down the passageways above. On the steamer, each immigrant is given a card with his name and a number or letter indicating the particular manifest on which his name appears. In marshaling immigrants for examination by the inspectors, care is taken that those appearing on the same manifest shall proceed along the same passageway.

Women Immigrants are Examined by the Doctors at Ellis Island. GGA Image ID # 1f211c2393

Female Physician Examines a Woman at Ellis Island. GGA Image ID # 1f20955b15

Immigrant Inspection Card Containing the Immigrant's Name and Location on the Passenger Manifest

At the end of each passageway is a desk where an immigrant inspector sits. When the alien reaches the inspector, he produces his card, and the officer finds his name on the manifest.

The immigrant is then asked substantially the same questions he had already answered when the manifest was prepared, and any discrepancies between his answers and the statements on the manifest are noted in red ink on the latter.

Immigrant Responding to Questions at an Inspector's Desk at Ellis Island. GGA Image ID # 1f1f04aec2

At this time, the immigrant is also required to show the amount of money he has in his possession, which is also noted on the manifest. In general, at this primary inspection, which is the only one to which nine-tenths of all immigrants are ever subjected, steps still need to be taken to ascertain whether the answers given are correct; indeed, such verification is often impossible. This highlights the crucial need for thorough historical research to understand the immigration inspection process.

Thus, while it would be comparatively easy to ascertain whether an immigrant could read or write, it is utterly impossible to determine if he has been a convict, whether he is a polygamist or anarchist, or, unless his appearance indicates it, whether he has been insane within five years previous. This underscores the significant challenge and complexity in determining certain aspects of an immigrant's history.

New Immigrants Landing at Battery Park after taking Ferry from Ellis Island. GGA Image ID # 1f1f5438ab

In the main, if the answers given appear truthful, if the immigrant is of sound physical appearance, and, considering his ability to work and his age, sex, and occupation, if he has money to support him until he can find employment, he is immediately passed.

However, if the inspector doubts his right to land, his card is marked " S. I." He is detained before a board of special inquiry (Note 92) and taken to another part of the building.

Those who are not detained pass into another room, where they can have their money changed into United States currency, buy tickets to their destination, and obtain information about proceeding on their way.

Quite frequently, the right of persons to land depends upon the existence and responsibility of some other person, such as a husband or parent, whom the immigrant is to join. For this reason, the immigrant may also be detained, and then a telegram is sent to the friend or relative requesting him to come and take the new arrival away.

Railroad Ticket Office at Ellis Island. GGA Image ID # 1f1f709c4a

Immigrants also have the assistance of the representatives of the missionary and charitable societies of the various races allowed on the Island. These societies provide work for aliens after landing, assist in finding their relatives and friends, and are, in many ways, useful.

The immigrants permitted to land, who have obtained all necessary information, exchanged their money, and are otherwise ready, are taken on board the ferry boat that runs every hour and landed at the Battery.

Those destined for points outside of New York City are looked after until they take their trains to protect them from all kinds of crooks, sharpers, agents of the padrone, and boarding-house keepers.

Provisions are made at Ellis Island for the thorough disinfection of clothing and baggage and for feeding and caring for immigrants during their detention. The present buildings at Ellis Island, erected two or three years ago, need to be revised to meet the needs of the enormous influx of the last few years.

Immigrants Are Served a Meal at Ellis Island. GGA Image ID # 1f2065baa7

In summer, spaces on the roof are reserved for detained immigrants so that they may enjoy the advantages of outdoor air and sunlight. The sleeping quarters are walled and floored with concrete, the bedsteads are iron, allowing the most thorough disinfection, and the bedding is frequently sterilized.

In addition to the main buildings and power plant, Ellis Island also has a hospital where immigrants afflicted with dangerous contagious diseases can be quarantined, and those suffering from any disease can be treated.

In some instances, where a disease is curable, and the immigrant will join a husband or parent, he can remain in the hospital until cured. In other cases, they are treated until deported. The government feeds detained immigrants at the expense of the steamship companies for about thirty cents a day for each person. (Note 95)

Immigrants being Held at Ellis Island for Return to Their Country of Origin. GGA Image ID # 1f207433eb

Alien seamen are not subject to inspection when they land with the intention of reshipping on an outward-bound vessel as soon as possible, but discharged or deserting seamen are to be treated like other aliens.

Under a ruling of the Attorney-General, made in 1903, Chinese seamen may be landed in the United States to be signed to American vessels. This not only opens the door to violations of the Chinese Exclusion Acts but also violates the spirit of the contract labor laws. (Note 97)

Notes and References

90 Cp. Dr. Allan McLaughlin, in Popular Science Monthly, vol. 66, pp. 357-361 (Feb. 1905); Report of the Commission appointed by the President to investigate the condition of the Immigrant Station at Ellis Island (1904).

91 Act of March 3, 1903, Section 22.

92 Act of March 3, 1903, section 24.

95 The average cost to the steamship companies of detained immigrants, in proportion to the whole number of immigrants carried by them, varies from 6 cents to 22 cents. The Hamburg-American, Prince and Ho

lland-American Companies pay the largest amounts; the Scandinavian and White Star Companies the smallest. See Report of the Commissioner-General of Immigration, 1904, p. 102.

97 In Report of the Commissioner-General of Immigration, 1903, p. 105.

Hall, Prescott F., A.B., LL.B., American Public Problems: Immigration and Its Effects Upon the United States, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1906

Photographs Courtesy of the National Archives

Immigrant Inspection Card from the Immigration Collection of the Gjenvick-Gjønvik Archives

Conclusion

The inspection and registration process at Ellis Island was crucial in maintaining public health and security. This rigorous system helped manage the influx of immigrants, ensuring a controlled and orderly entry into the United States.

Key Points

• 🛂 Inspection Procedures: Immigrants underwent thorough medical and legal checks to determine eligibility.

• 🛳️ Arrival Process: Upon arriving, immigrants were inspected by both state quarantine and immigration officials.

• 🧳 Segregation and Processing: Immigrants were separated and processed according to their manifest groups.

• 🏥 Health Checks: Medical examinations were conducted, focusing on contagious diseases and physical fitness.

• 📄 Legal Scrutiny: Inspectors verified personal information and determined if immigrants met legal requirements.

• 💵 Financial Verification: Immigrants had to demonstrate sufficient funds for self-support.

• 🔍 Further Examination: Doubtful cases were marked for further scrutiny by a special inquiry board.

• 💼 Employment and Settlement: Immigrants could exchange money, buy tickets, and receive settlement information.

• 🛡️ Protection Measures: Authorities protected immigrants from exploitation and fraud.

• 🏥 Hospital Facilities: Ellis Island had facilities for treating and isolating immigrants with health issues.

Summary

1. Systematic Inspection: Describes the comprehensive inspection and registration process at Ellis Island for immigrants in 1906.

2. Arrival and Quarantine: Immigrants were first inspected by quarantine officials and immigration officers upon arrival.

3. Medical Examinations: Detailed health checks identified contagious diseases and other medical conditions.

4. Legal and Identity Verification: Inspectors cross-checked immigrants' answers with their manifests, noting any discrepancies.

5. Financial Assessment: Immigrants needed to show adequate financial resources to prevent becoming public charges.

6. Special Inquiry Board: Cases requiring further investigation were referred to a special board for a final decision.

7. Facilities and Services: Ellis Island provided various services, including currency exchange and ticket purchasing.

8. Protection from Exploitation: Measures were in place to safeguard immigrants from scams and exploitation.

9. Detention and Hospitalization: Facilities were available for detaining and treating immigrants with health issues.

10. Challenges and Efficiency: The system, though efficient, faced challenges due to the high volume of arrivals.