On 11 April 1890, Ellis Island was designated a federal immigration station. When it opened two years later, great changes in immigration patterns had become apparent. Arrivals from Northern and Western Europe (Scandinavia, Germany, Great Britain, and Ireland) were slowing while arrivals from Southern and Eastern Europe (Italy, Greece, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Slovenia, and Russia) were increasing. Most immigrants to the United States had left the Old World to escape war, drought, famine, or religious persecution and hoped for greater opportunities in the New World. Millions of these new arrivals passed through Ellis Island until the station closed its doors in 1954. Between 1900 and 1914, its peak years of operation, 5,000 to 10,000 people passed through Ellis Island on a daily basis. It has been estimated that close to 40% of all current U.S. citizens can trace at least one of their ancestors to coming through this station.

In 1976, Ellis Island was opened to the public. Visitors can now tour the Ellis Island Immigration Museum and trace their ancestors through arrival records that became available to the public in 2001.