Castle Garden, the Gateway to Ellis Island
Duane Stabler
August 20, 2020
America’s welcome mat at Ellis Island in New York was for refugees — from hunger, political unrest, or poverty. While before 1890 the states controlled immigration, in 1890 the federal government took control through the Departments of Commerce, Labor, and (in 1940) Justice. Ellis Island wasn’t the only federal immigration center, but it was the first. Its history is complex and strangely fascinating.