Ellis Island (detention facility)

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US Gov Name Ellis Island Detention Station
Facility Type Immigration Detention Station
Administrative Agency Immigration and Naturalization Service
Location Ellis Island, New York (40.6833 lat, -74.0333 lng)
Date Opened December 1, 1941
Date Closed June 1944
Population Description Held Japanese immigrants on the East Coast arrested by the FBI immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor; other foreign nationals were also held there.
General Description Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) detention station located on Ellis Island, a mostly artificial island of 27 acres in Upper New York Bay.
Peak Population 608 (1941-12-01)
National Park Service Info


Immigration and Naturalization Service detention station that held Japanese immigrants living on the East Coast who were arrested by the FBI immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

  • Ellis Island was designated as a permanent detention station, and foreign nationals from enemy nations were transferred in and out of Ellis Island for more than two years.

Last updated July 14, 2015, 10:09 p.m..