Ellis Island
During and immediately following World War II, Ellis Island was used to hold German merchant mariners and "enemy aliens"—Axis nationals detained for fear of spying, sabotage, and other fifth column activity. In December 1941, Ellis Island held 279 Japanese, 248 Germans, and 81 Italians removed from the East Coast. Unlike other wartime immigration detention stations, Ellis Island was designated as a permanent holding facility and was used to hold foreign nationals throughout the war. A total of 7,000 Germans, Italians and Japanese would be ultimately detained at Ellis Island. It was also a processing center for returning sick or wounded U.S. soldiers, and a Coast Guard training base. Ellis Island still managed to process tens of thousands of immigrants per year during this time, but many fewer than the hundreds of thousands per year who arrived before the war. After the war, immigration rapidly returned to earlier levels.
Italian Welfare League
The IWL had offices in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Ellis Island. At the Ellis Island office, they assisted Italians who were having trouble with immigration, including hundreds who were detained on the island during World War II. The league helped Italian New Yorkers find jobs, housing, and medical care, and provided emergency aid to the needy. In response to the Americanization Movement, they helped Italian immigrants learn to speak English and conform to the social norms of Anglo-Saxon Protestant America. From 1934 to 1973, executive secretary Angela Carlozzi Rossi oversaw much of the league's activity, in addition to handling many cases personally.