Medical screenings rooted in xenophobia took place as soon as 1892 for immigrants arriving on Ellis Island... #tbt
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00:00From all the evidence we have, this was a very scary and intimidating moment for newcomers.
00:16Many of them did not speak much English.
00:18They were being poked and prodded by individuals who were complete strangers and who were in
00:24uniforms, and for many coming from Eastern European countries, individuals in uniform
00:30were not your friends.
00:32They were soldiers.
00:33They were policemen.
00:34They were people who were seeking to intimidate you.
00:54Americans looked at the process of admitting immigrants as problematic.
01:18On the one hand, we wanted the immigrant labor to come into the United States, and in fact
01:23our rejection rates were very low.
01:25They averaged 2 to 3 percent per year, but the percentage of those rejected that were
01:33rejected on medical grounds shot up.
01:38The reason for that was improved means of medical diagnoses and the concern on the part
01:44of Americans that newcomers might be diluting the pioneering American stock in which Americans
01:51took such pride.
01:55Many of the nativists were, in fact, eugenicists.
01:59They were very concerned about biological issues and the contamination of Americans
02:06genetically by the arrival of these newcomers, who they saw as sometimes coming from societies
02:13that were starkly inferior to the United States in many ways, culturally and biologically.
02:22This was a moment when eugenic argument was being used, and not just by people who were
02:28bona fide bigots, but by many people of intelligence and goodwill who didn't understand the problem
02:36in this kind of eugenic thinking.
03:01They were encouraged to carry hand luggage with them, and there was a staircase that
03:09went from the first floor of Ellis to the second floor where the large registry room
03:15was located with its beautiful Spanish tiled vaulted ceilings.
03:20They were encouraged to carry their hand luggage so that medical inspectors could be at the
03:24top of those stairs and make determinations just about them, medical determinations based
03:31on the light stress that was required for carrying those bags up the stairs.
03:37Were they huffing and puffing?
03:38Were they coughing?
03:40Were they blue around the fingernails, which would indicate a lack of sufficient oxygen
03:46in the blood.
04:04If it was found that immigrants were suffering from diseases or disabilities, which would
04:11not allow them to be self-supporting, they could be sent back, usually at the cost of
04:18the steamship line that brought them.
04:42The reason why was America wanted this immigrant labor.
04:57They wanted admission.
05:01They weren't interested in rejecting newcomers because these newcomers were going to help
05:06build modern America.
05:09Those who owned mines and owned factories understood that.
05:14Even today, you see individuals who are involved in economic development in the building of
05:24high-tech areas want newcomers to come to the United States because they provide a tremendous
05:32source of low-cost labor.
05:37We want scientists and engineers and all kinds of workers who are highly skilled and very
05:45talented to come to the United States.