A Message From AIISF’s Executive Director

It’s definitely Presidential election season. As in previous years, immigration is once again a pivotal issue. During last month’s debate, one candidate perpetuated a false claim: "In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs… they’re eating the cats… they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.” The “they” that the candidate was referring to were immigrants, and it has been proven to be absolutely false.

This isn’t the first time that this and other offensive stereotypes of immigrants have been hurled, and it unfortunately won’t be the last time that immigrants are stereotyped as different, dangerous, dirty, and disease-ridden.

• When the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and subsequent anti-Asian immigration laws were passed, Chinese and Asian immigrants were blamed for the nation’s poor economy and were viewed as a threat to scarce jobs. 

• In the early 1900s, the St. Louis World’s Fair and subsequent expositions often included displays of Filipinos with racist depictions and tropes that cast them as dog-eaters. 

• Doctor M.W. Glover, who oversaw the US Public Health Service at Angel Island, wrote in 1911 in a letter to the Commission of Immigration that “we have always on hand a large number of Orientals whose filthy habits render it difficult enough to preserve sanitary cleanliness among them, and who are the subject to many diseases spread by rats (fleas) and flies. No amount of care or cleanliness on the station will remove these dangers to health while flies and rats are bred in large numbers immediately beyond our borders.” 

“Your lunch smells funny.” “Where are you really from?” “Go back to where you came from!” Many of us who identify as immigrants or of immigrant heritage have heard these phrases all too often. They persistently remind us that no matter how long we or our families have lived in the US, we are often not seen as fully American. We are deemed perpetual foreigners.

Can we imagine and work towards a less divided future?

• What if communities across the US considered immigrants as family, friends, and neighbors instead of as strangers and threats to our nation? 

• What if when we heard the word "immigrant," everyone immediately thought of immigrants as important contributors to our nation's economic, cultural, and community mosaic? 

• What if we all understood that instead of being a drain on public resources, immigrants contribute 17% of the US GDP or $3.3 trillion? (Immigrant Research Initiative, 2023)

• What if we all recognized that some of our most treasured American icons and modern-day comforts were invented by immigrants: hot dogs, hamburgers, doughnuts, blue jeans, telephones, televisions, Google, and so much more?

As a non-partisan, nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, AIISF will never tell you who to vote for. But we encourage you to exercise your right to vote if you are eligible and cast your vote according to your values. 

At AIISF, our values are to create community, belonging, and inclusion in our workplace, events, programs, and exhibits. We ensure our interactions are grounded in integrity, respect, and collaboration. We promote learning – particularly about the nation’s complex history of racism and exclusion – while also celebrating the strength, resiliencies, and contributions that immigrants have made and continue to make to the US. 

Wishing you strength, courage, and conviction.

Edward Tepporn
AIISF Executive Director

3D Tour: Japanese American WWII Confinement

Discover a new 3D experience based on AIISF's Taken From Their Families exhibit. It features stories and recollections from Japanese American men who were forcibly removed from their homes and briefly sent to Angel Island before their incarceration in government camps for the duration of World War II. We invite you to take a guided tour of the site and learn more about this important chapter of US history.

Upcoming Events

Showcasing Our Latest Exhibit

Tuesday, October 8 | 5:30 pm PST
Online | Click here to register

Join us as AIISF's Director of Education, Danielle Wetmore, as she introduces our latest virtual 3D experience based on AIISF's Taken From Their Families exhibit.

This new exhibit features stories and recollections from Japanese American men who were forcibly removed from their homes and briefly sent to Angel Island before their incarceration in government camps for the duration of World War II.

A Cage Built of Jade exhibit

Opening October 10 at the Angel Island Immigration Museum (AIIM).

AIISF's newest traveling exhibit, A Cage Built of Jade, is coming to Angel Island State Park on October 10!

The exhibit faithfully recreates one of the rooms inside the detention barracks and provides a glimpse into Angel Island's history and poetry. See the exhibit before it begins touring museums and libraries across the country in 2025.

Sons of Chinatown Book Talk with Author William Gee Wong

Wednesday, October 16 | 6 pm PST Online | Click here to register

The Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation will be hosting an online event with Bill Wong. We will discuss his work on the book SONS OF CHINATOWN: A MEMOIR ROOTED IN CHINA AND AMERICA and take questions from the audience. We hope to see you on October 16th!

Angel Island Immigration Station Poetry Finder

Beginning November 15, Angel Island's Chinese poetry will be available to view for the first time with a new web-enhanced guide called the Angel Island Immigration Station Poetry Finder. The AIIS Poetry Finder allows you to explore, read, listen to, and reflect on the experiences of Angel Island’s immigrants from inside the detention barracks AND at home. The project features...

• Over 140 Chinese poems and their translations

• Room maps showing the locations of the building's poetry

• Photos of the walls with highlighted Chinese text

• Audio recordings of the poems read in their regional dialect

• A virtual exhibit page for at-home exploration

• A QR code-enhanced experience inside the detention barracks

• Accessibility room guides for use on location

AIISF would like to acknowledge the hard work of co-creators and State Park volunteers Sam Louie and Samuel Lee; Angel Island State Park staff; translators Him Mark Lai, Genny Lim, Judy Yung, and Charles Egan; the project's Chinese dialect readers; and our supporters, who made the AIIS Poetry Finder possible.

AIIS Poetry Finder Release Schedule

• Nov. 2024: Room 105

• Dec. 2024: Rooms 109 & 111

• Jan. 2025: Rooms 115 & 116

• Feb. 2025: Room 205

• Mar. 2025: Rooms 206 & 207

• Apr. 2025: Rooms 211 & 213

Community and Partner Events

"Ka-Plunk Ka-Plunk" A Spooky Historic Tale from Angel Island State Park

Friday, October 4 | 9 am PST
Online | Register here

Follow the registration link for a spooky retelling of a real newspaper story that happened in 1907 on the island. Learn about the "devil" of Angel Island that went ka-plunk ka-plunk in the night...

After a choose-your-own-adventure retelling of the historic tale, learn about the history behind Angel Island's quarantine station and its connections to the military and medical history of the time.

Nikkei Angel Island Pilgrimage

Saturday, October 5 | 11:30 am
Angel Island Immigration Station

The Nichi Bei Foundation has led more than 2,000 people on five Nikkei Angel Island Pilgrimages, reconnecting the community to our forgotten legacy at the former Immigration Station, where up to 85,000 persons of Japanese descent were detained between 1910 and 1940.

Held in partnership with the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation and the National Japanese American Historical Society, the pilgrimage also honors those who rediscovered the forgotten Immigration Station barracks in the 1970s, and those who took up the preservation efforts shortly thereafter.