U.S. Ports of Entry for Immigrants

A Question for Vincent Cannato At the first book discussion, a question came up about ports other than Ellis Island at which immigrants landed. I didn’t know the answer, so I asked Vincent Cannato. Question: What were the other ports of entry for immigrants during the period when the Ellis Island immigration station was active? I know about Philadelphia and Boston and San Francisco, and I know that a lot of people came through Canada. What about the south? What was to stop people from arriving on a ship from, say, New Orleans or Norfolk, Virginia, with the intent of staying in the country? Vincent's Answer On the first question, there were other ports. Ellis Island saw about 75 percent of immigrants during this period (1890-1920). Boston, Baltimore, Philly, San Francisco, were usually the next biggest ports, but way behind NYC. People did come across the northern and southern borders, but realistically most people are going to come through major ports. It’s cheaper and easier. If they landed at New Orleans or Norfolk, they would be inspected there as well. There are some cases of people coming into Canada and then sneaking across, but those numbers are probably pretty small.