Ellis Island

Ellis Island, located in New York Harbor at the mouth of the Hudson River, was at one time the main immigration port for immigrants entering the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Jurisdiction

Ellis Island is owned by the federal government and managed by the National Park Service, so the long-running jurisdictional dispute between the states of New Jersey and New York was more symbolic than practical. The island is on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. During the colonial period, however, New York had taken possession, and New Jersey had acquiesced in that action. In a compact between the two states, approved by U.S. Congress in 1834, New Jersey therefore agreed that New York would continue to have exclusive jurisdiction over the island.

Related Topics:
National Park Service - New Jersey - New York - U.S. Congress - 1834

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Thereafter, however, the federal government expanded the island by landfill, so that it could accommodate the immigration station that opened in 1892. Landfilling continued until 1934. Nine-tenths of the current area is artificial island that did not exist at the time of the interstate compact.

Related Topics:
Landfill - 1934 - Artificial island

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New Jersey contended that the new extensions were part of New Jersey, since they were not part of the previous cession. New Jersey eventually filed suit to establish its jurisdiction, leading New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to famously remark that his father, an Italian who immigrated through Ellis Island, never intended to go to New Jersey.

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The dispute eventually reached the United States Supreme Court, which ruled in 1998 that New Jersey had jurisdiction over all portions of the island created after the original compact was approved. This caused several immediate problems: some buildings, for instance, fell into the territory of both states. New Jersey and New York soon agreed to share jurisdiction over the island.

Related Topics:
United States Supreme Court - 1998

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