USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Unlike Ellis Island, where Europeans were subject to restrictions that precluded entrance for some but not most immigrants, the Angel Island Immigration Station employed discriminatory policies that were used to prevent Asians from immigrating.

Detailed explanation-2: -Chinese immigrants were held on Angel Island for weeks, months, or even years while awaiting hearings or appeals on their applications. In contrast, immigrants passing through Ellis Island on American’s east coast-who were generally European-were processed within hours or days and merely had to pass medical exams.

Detailed explanation-3: -While at the detention center, Chinese immigrants went through harsh interrogations and demeaning physical exams, often, living in deplorable conditions. Families would be separated and forced to sleep it cramped communal quarters.

Detailed explanation-4: -During the next 30 years, this was the point of entry for most of the approximately 175, 000 Chinese immigrants who came to the United States. Most of them were detained on Angel Island for as little as two weeks or as much as six months. A few however, were forced to remain on the island for as much as two years.

Detailed explanation-5: -Chinese Exclusion Act Asian immigrants and some other groups, including Mexicans and Russians, along with those who were thought to need quarantine for medical purposes, were sent to Angel Island.