A Different Kind of Angel
	
In the 1800s, Chinese immigrants came to America for a better life. They toiled on farms, in mines, and building the railroads for very low wages. The work was hard; conditions were dangerous. Many immigrants sent their wages home to their families. But American workers resented them, accusing immigrants of taking their jobs. 

Beginning in 1882, the government restricted the flow of immigration into the United States. Immigrants from Eastern Europe were processed through Ellis Island in New York Harbor; Asians were held at Angel Island in San Francisco Bay. They were stopped, examined, questioned, and held for weeks, months, and sometimes years. 

The Chinese Exclusion Act was signed into federal law in 1882, intended to restrict Chinese immigration. Officials on Angel Island asked Chinese immigrants very detailed personal questions. Some had to prove they had a father or a husband who was a U.S. citizen. Immigrants practiced answering tough questions even before they left China, and they studied on the ship as they crossed the ocean.

Very few young Chinese women immigrated to America. Harsh working conditions and the Asian tradition of giving boys the first opportunities kept them away. Sometimes children arrived alone. They had to fend for themselves on Angel Island until a parent or other relative came to get them. Immigrants waited around the barracks, feeling bored, frustrated, and nervous. Some wrote messages and carved them into the walls. 

Angel Island was abandoned when fire destroyed the administration building in 1940. The Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed 3 years later. The original Act had been meant to last for 10 years. When it was finally repealed in 1943, the Chinese Exclusion Act had been in place for sixty-one years!  









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