Prisoners of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act held on Angel Island (AsAmNews)
February 24, 2023
By Raymond Douglas Chong
One Sunday this month I ferried from the Port of San Francisco to Angel Island Immigration Station (AIIS), a National Historic Landmark. After 111 years, I retraced the journey of Moi Chung, my paternal grandfather, a Chinese immigrant, to Angel Island. He arrived in America with a student visa to learn English in 1912.
Edward Tepporn, Executive Director of Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation (AIISF), pointedly guided my visit. He highlighted AIISF’s four decades effort to restore this National Historic Landmark in partnership with the State of California Department of Parks and Recreation. John Clagett of Angel Island State Park vividly interpreted the complexity of AIIS and the features of the Detention Barracks.