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Pre-1900

There was no perceived need for an immigration service in the United States in its early days. Immigra-tion was welcome. In fact, the first immigration law in the United States, passed in 1864, was actually intended to encourage immigration by making the process easier by assisting in transportation and settlement. Most immigration matters were handled by individual states until nearly three decades later, when the number of immigrants was growing rapidly and the state laws were competing with federal statutes.

The Immigration Act of 1891 gave control of the immigration process to the federal government. Under the law, the new Office of Immigration (then a branch of the U. S. Treasury Department) was able to consolidate the process and thus streamline it as well. Soon after the office was established, 24 inspection stations were opened at various ports of entry (both on the borders and at seaports). The most famous of these inspection stations was Ellis Island, in New York Harbor. Opened in 1892, it processed hundreds of thousands of immigrants for more than 60 years. (Today, the site is a museum dedicated to the immigrants who came to New York.) In fact, in 1893, of the 180 employees at Immigration, 119 (nearly two-thirds) worked at Ellis Island. While Ellis Island remained the best known immigrant station, others were built or expanded, and former state customs officials were hired to serve as immigration inspectors.

During these early years the basic structure of the U. S. immigration service was formulated and formalized. It was at Ellis Island that the process of choosing who would and who would not gain admission was refined. Boards of Special Inquiry were developed to hear individual exclusion cases and determine whether a decision to deport could be reversed.


Inside Pre-1900