Pacific Coast Immigration Center to be Built on Angel Island
Good news in California for immigration historians.
This year’s California budget signed by Governor Jerry Brown, includes nearly $3 million to complete the restoration of the $14 million Pacific Coast Immigration Center at Angel Island State Park. The Pacific Coast Immigration Center will feature exhibits telling the stories of Pacific Coast immigrants. It will have interactive displays, exhibits highlighting diverse immigrant stories, and an on site cafe.
The center will be housed in the historic Public Health Service Hospital Building in the existing U.S. Immigration Station on Angel Island. This station, of course, was where many prospective Chinese immigrants were detained by the U.S. government in the era of the Chinese exclusion laws.
“This will put immigration from the Pacific on par with the far more familiar story of immigration through Ellis Island,” said Katherine Toy, President of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation Board of Directors. “As Pacific immigration continues to grow, it is critical to understand and provide a forum for discussion about both its history and the issues surrounding today’s immigration stories.”
KJ