People are moving more freely across borders and continents and this has kept the topic of immigration in the world’s headlines and sparked widespread protests. The Pew Research Center projects that by 2050, more than one-third of US schoolchildren “younger than 17 will either be immigrants themselves or the children of at least one parent who is an immigrant.”

Ellis Island is a small island with a monumental history. Millions of immigrants who came to America came through Ellis Island. They came to escape poverty and religious persecution in their own countries. They came inspired by a great country that offered hope and opportunity.