Read the excerpt from Immigrant Kids by Russell Freedman.

The writer Angelo Pellegrini has recalled his own family’s detention at Ellis Island:

"We lived there for three days – Mother and we five children, the youngest of whom was three years old. Because of the rigorous physical examination that we had to submit to, particularly of the eyes, there was this terrible anxiety that one of us might be rejected. And if one of us was, what would the rest of the family do? My sister was indeed momentarily rejected; she had been so ill and had cried so much that her eyes were absolutely bloodshot, and Mother was told, "Well, we can’t let her in.” But fortunately, Mother was an indomitable spirit and finally made them understand that if her child had a few hours’ rest and a little bit to eat she would be all right. In the end we did get through."
Most immigrants passed through Ellis Island in about one day. Carrying all their worldly possessions, they left the examination hall and waited on the dock for the ferry that would take them to Manhattan, a mile away. Some of them still faced long journeys overland before they reached their final destination. Others would head directly for the teeming immigrant neighborhoods of New York City.