Ellis Island Officials Made Immigrants “Swear Off” Their Homeland
Before German immigrant Joseph Haas was released from his paperwork-based detention, he had to persuade Ellis Island immigration officials that he intended to be a loyal American. He arrived at Ellis Island in 1922, when mistrust of Germans and German-Americans was still festering after World War I. Officials took Haas to a separate room and asked why he left Germany. Haas explained that he was one of eight children, and food was scarce.
He says officials made him “swear off” Germany, and asked whether he would be “against the United States.” He said he wasn’t, nor was his family. The officials debated whether Haas, at fourteen, was too young to be politically active and a potential radical. They found he wasn’t likely to be a threat to America, and after making sure his paperwork was (finally) in order, released him to go to his Spring Green, Wisconsin destination.
