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.
Earl Hancock Ellis
Ellis was soon hospitalized in Manila due to acute nephritis, an inflammation of the kidneys. After his discharge, he departed for Yokohama, Japan aboard SS "President Jackson" so he could arrange for a visa and travel authorization that would permit him to visit the mandated Caroline and the Marshall Islands. Ellis continued drinking heavily, which apparently caused him to disclose his mission to civilians, including the physicians who treated him when he was hospitalized again for neurasthenia on September 1, 1922. The local naval attaché issued Ellis orders to return home on the next available ship; Ellis ignored them, cabled Marine Corps Headquarters for a draft of one thousand dollars he could receive at a local bank, and departed for Saipan.