Ellis Island | Alien Enemies

Lindsay Graham (0:00)

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Imagine it's November 9, 1919, in a small hearing room on Ellis Island. You're a Russian immigrant who's lived in New York City for six years, but last night, immigration authorities raided the school you attended in the evenings. You were arrested and hauled here, where an immigration inspector has read out a warrant accusing you of advocating the violent overthrow of the United States government. And now, with a raised eyebrow, he peers at you over his glasses.

Are you a member of the Union of Russian Workers? No, and there's not a word of truth to the charges. But you were arrested at the People's House night school, were you not? That school was run by the Union of Russian Workers, a radical organization. But I'm not a radical. I only started going to the People's House last September to attend math classes.

The inspector considers this, crossing his arms and leaning back. Are you a member of the Communist Party? No, the only organization I belong to is the Methodist Episcopal Church. Do you believe in organized government? Yes. Do you believe the government of the United States is a good government? Of course. Why do you think I moved here from Russia? Have you ever read anarchist literature? No. Now, you must believe me, I am not an anarchist. Anyone who knows me could tell you that. I barely know what an anarchist is.

The inspector picks up a small, pocket-sized book off the table and thumbs through the pages. This is a membership book for the Union of Russian Workers. Do you recognize it?

Your pulse starts to quicken as you begin to realize where he's going with this. Yes, it was given to me when I joined the school. It says here that the struggle between the classes will only end when the laboring classes take possession of all the wealth in the world through the violence of social revolution. Do you believe in the principles set forth in this book? No. You arrested me because of a book? The inspector rises from his chair. You will be held here on Ellis Island on a $10,000 bond until further notice.

With that, the inspector walks toward the door, leaving you alone. It feels like only yesterday that you arrived at Ellis Island in search of freedom and a better life. For six years, you've worked hard and followed the law until that better life seemed within reach. But now you wonder if everything you've worked for is about to be taken away. Whether the authorities in this country are just as bad as those who fled from in Russia.

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Lindsay Graham (3:57)

From Audible Originals, I'm Lindsay Graham, and this is American History Tellers, our history, your story.

For the first 25 years of its existence, Ellis Island served as the main port of entry for immigrants to the United States. But as Europe was thrown into turmoil, first by the outbreak of World War I, and then by the Communist Revolution in Russia, that began to change. With anti-immigrant hysteria sweeping the country, authorities transformed Ellis Island from a gateway into a detention center, holding German immigrants and suspected political radicals behind its doors. Many of those unlucky enough to get caught up in the mass arrests soon found themselves deported back to their homelands. That included Russian immigrant Joseph Polulek, who was arrested while attending a math class at a night school run by the Union of Russian Workers. He was shipped back to Russia along with 249 other suspected communists and anarchists. And even after World War I ended, anti-immigrant sentiment ran high. In the 1920s, lawmakers would introduce sweeping new legislation to severely restrict immigration, stripping Ellis Island of its original purpose and marking the end of an era that had changed America forever. This is Episode 3, Enemy Aliens.