Ellis Island

Ellis Island has been open to tourists since 1976 as the Immigration Museum. It was once the only destination for immigrants to the United States. The first wave of immigration to the United States began in 1814. In 1846, there was a maximum influx of immigrants - more than 1 million people per year.

In the following years, regulations appeared on Ellis Island, according to which some citizens cannot come to the United States. Prostitutes and criminals were banned in 1875 and anarchists in 1903. It also introduced a literacy test for immigrants, which was valid until 1952.

In 1924, the Ellis Island Immigration Act introduced an annual quota of 164,000 people from Europe. Immigration from Asia was banned. In 1950, the Homeland Security Act was passed, which prohibited people associated with communist or fascist organizations from entering the United States.

In 1954, the Ellis Island Immigrant Reception Center was closed. Today it acts as a museum of the history of great immigration to the United States. Just see from the side of Ellis Island can be from a free ferry, sending to Staten Island.