Read this excerpt from Immigrant Kids, by Russell
The purpose of this excerpt is to help readers
Freedman.
understand the importance of
But the joumney was not yet over. Before they could be
admitted to the United States, immigrants had to pass
• the United States.
through Ellis Island, which became the nation's chief
O the time period.
immigrant processing center in
be questioned and examined.
1892. There they would
Those who could not
O taking exams.
pass all the exams would be detained; some would be
O Ellis Island.
sent back to
Europe. And so their arrival in America
was filled with great anxiety. Among the immigrants,
Ellis Island was known as "Heartbreak Island."