I’m reading American Passage: The History of Ellis Island by Vincent J. Cannato. I am enjoying it. I guess I’m about half-way through. There is extensive discussion of the debates about admitting or excluding certain immigrants, changes in immigration law (and the degree of enforcement), and government officials at several levels.
In some cases these are illustrated by discussion of certain cases. For example, in 1912 Chaie Kaganowtiz (a Russian Jewish widow) and her 9 children were almost excluded. But given that milllions of our ancestors came though Ellis Island over about 3 decades, only a very small percentage can be mentioned in any book. By the way, a chapter is devoted to Castle Garden, the previous immigration station in New York.
I’m reading slowly and enjoying while I learn. I’d highly recommend this book to anyone with a interest in Ellis Island, genealogy, or immigration issues.
I should have clarified this a bit. I cite the case of Chaie Kaganowtiz and her 9 children were who were almost excluded. The initial action was to deny them admission into the US. But they appealed and after almost a month in detention on Ellis Island were admitted.