At the base of the Statue of Liberty (the huge statue which was a gift from the people of France to the United States in honor of the 100th anniversary of American independence) is inscribed a poem, “The New Colossus,” by American poet Emma Lazarus. This poem contains the following stirring words:

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

In 1892, a small island called Ellis Island was established as a screening area for new immigrants to America. Ellis Island is in New York Harbor, near Liberty Island, which holds the Statue of Liberty. It was used as a reception and examination center until 1924, and over 12 million newcomers to this country passed through it.