<P> After its opening, Ellis Island was again expanded, and additional structures were built . By the time it closed on November 12, 1954, 12 million immigrants had been processed by the U.S. Bureau of Immigration . It is estimated that 10.5 million immigrants departed for points across the United States from the Central Railroad of New Jersey Terminal, located just across a narrow strait . Others would have used one of the other terminals along the North River (Hudson River) at that time . At first, the majority of immigrants arriving through the station were Northern and Western Europeans (Germany, France, Switzerland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Great Britain, and the Scandinavian countries). Eventually, these groups of peoples slowed in the rates that they were coming in, and immigrants came in from Southern and Eastern Europe, including Jews . Many reasons these immigrants came to the United States included escaping political and economic oppression, as well as persecution, destitution, and violence . Other groups of peoples being processed through the station were Poles, Hungarians, Czechs, Serbs, Slovaks, Greeks, Syrians, Turks, and Armenians . </P> <P> Between 1905 and 1914, an average of one million immigrants per year arrived in the United States . Immigration officials reviewed about 5,000 immigrants per day during peak times at Ellis Island . Two - thirds of those individuals emigrated from eastern, southern and central Europe . The peak year for immigration at Ellis Island was 1907, with 1,004,756 immigrants processed . The all - time daily high occurred on April 17, 1907, when 11,747 immigrants arrived . After the Immigration Act of 1924 was passed, which greatly restricted immigration and allowed processing at overseas embassies, the only immigrants to pass through the station were those who had problems with their immigration paperwork, displaced persons, and war refugees . Today, over 100 million Americans--about one - third to 40% of the population of the United States--can trace their ancestry to immigrants who first arrived in America at Ellis Island before dispersing to points all over the country . </P> <P> Generally, those immigrants who were approved spent from two to five hours at Ellis Island . Arrivals were asked 29 questions including name, occupation, and the amount of money carried . It was important to the American government that the new arrivals could support themselves and have money to get started . The average the government wanted the immigrants to have was between 18 and 25 dollars ($600 in 2015 adjusted for inflation). Those with visible health problems or diseases were sent home or held in the island's hospital facilities for long periods of time . More than 3,000 would - be immigrants died on Ellis Island while being held in the hospital facilities . Some unskilled workers were rejected because they were considered "likely to become a public charge ." About 2% were denied admission to the U.S. and sent back to their countries of origin for reasons such as having a chronic contagious disease, criminal background, or insanity . Ellis Island was sometimes known as "The Island of Tears" or "Heartbreak Island" because of those 2% who were not admitted after the long transatlantic voyage . The Kissing Post is a wooden column outside the Registry Room, where new arrivals were greeted by their relatives and friends, typically with tears, hugs, and kisses . </P> <P> During World War I, the German sabotage of the Black Tom Wharf ammunition depot damaged buildings on Ellis Island . The repairs included the current barrel - vaulted ceiling of the Main Hall . </P>

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