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.
Ulrich Ellis
In 1928, Ellis was appointed private secretary to Earle Page, the leader of the Country Party. They became close friends, and Ellis shared Page's passion for the New State Movement, which advocated for the creation of new states in regional New South Wales and Queensland. In 1933, Ellis served as the publicity officer for Charles Hardy's Riverina Movement, which advocated the secession of the Riverina from the rest of New South Wales. The following year, he gave evidence before the New South Wales royal commission on new states, chaired by Judge Harold Sprent Nicholas. Ellis served on the executive of the New England New State Movement from 1948, and he and his wife moved to Armidale, New South Wales, in 1960. He campaigned for the "Yes" vote in the 1967 New England secession referendum, which failed.