What was the ellis island immigration station like?

After an arduous sea voyage, immigrants arriving at Ellis Island were tagged with information from their ship's registry; they then waited on long lines for medical and legal inspections to determine if they were fit for entry into the United States.

From 1892 to 1924, Ellis Island was America's largest and most active immigration station, where over 12 million immigrants were processed. On average, the inspection process took approximately 3-7 hours.

More than 120,000 immigrants were sent back to their countries of origin, and during the island's half-century of operation more than 3,500 immigrants died there. Ellis Island waylaid certain arrivals, including those likely to become public charges, such as unescorted women and children.