Ellis Island NYC (document en anglais)

This document is a report made by a woman about Ellis Island, in New York City. At the beginning, the journalist says the Statue of Liberty is the symbol of the American Dream but Ellis Island tells the story behind this dream. For 12 million of immigrants who passed through Ellis Island from 1892 to 1954, it was the first stop on their way to access to USA, the land of opportunities. People went to America to avoid famine, wars, poverty into their own countries. They traveled by boat, in the deck in poor conditions. Their voyage across the sea lasted 2 weeks. When they arrived in USA, immigrants had to take a physical and mental exam to enter into America. This physical exam, practiced by doctors, was called “6-seconds exam” because it was the time that a doctor took to inspect immigrants. It was very quickly. Immigrants were marked with a letter if they had diseases (H for heart, N for Neck… ) and had to take an other exam to know if they could enter into USA. Some who had diseases went to Ellis Island hospital to be nursed. 3000 persons died at Ellis Island. Moreover, only 2% of these immigrants were sent back to their country and 12 million passed through Ellis Island and enter into America. They were needed in the US as laborers to fuel the Industrial Revolution. That's why Ellis Island was nicknamed the “Island of Hopes” for the 12 million of immigrants who could enter and find a better life and also, the “Island of Tears” for the 2% who was sent back.

Now, this place is a museum to prove the struggles of immigrants to enter into this country. It takes 5 hours to visit it, to discover the living conditions of the immigrants. Many of their name are recording here as standing an example of the diversity in United States. In fact, 40% of Americans have an ancestor who was a immigrant.

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