ELLIS ISLAND AGAIN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19805, 28 November 1927, Page 12

ELLIS ISLAND AGAIN.

CASES OF HARDSHIP. ENGLISH TOURISTS DETAINED. Ellis Island hardships have affected rich and poor alike in the Blackburn district, says the London Morning Post. Mr. Cr itch ley, a leading merchant there, lately returned full of indignation at tho treatment he witnessed by the American authorities. A correspondent of the paper states that he interviewed Mr. and Mrs. T. 11. Butler, two thrifty cotton workers, of Blackburn, who for 17 years have saved up for a visit to relations in the United States. They booked on the Celtic, and were surprised to find a holiday tour spoilt by compulsory detention on Ellis Island. There tliev stayed seven days, notwithstanding official visas signed by the American Consul. "Indignities were added to by inquisition," stated Mr. and Mrs. Butler. "We had all sorts of irrelevant questions to answer, and when we pointed out that we were tourists and not immigrants we were told that: "You English have tricked us before. They come as visitors and stay." Among the questions asked were: "How long have you been married ?" "How much can you save ?" "How much do you earn?" and "Who paid your passage?" Tho officials received with incredulity the statement that this Blackburn couple had been able to save sufficient for an American tour on textile wages! They were not alone in their misfortunes, fo> a Liverpool man and a Russian woman also had to submit to the same treatment. One foreign woman wh . spoke 'Englisn perfectly said that she bad been on Ellis Island for a month, and there was no sign of a move. The Tribunal which decides these cases is housed in a department of Court-like appearance and passengers had the comfortless assurance that "they could appeal to Washington, though the process was so expensive that it would probably take all the money they possessed." Mr. and Mrs. Butler were, however, more fortunate than many of tho visitors. Their relations in Philadelphia got to work, and through the agency of tho Catholic Welfare Society the ban was removed, and a reunion with relatives after 17 years' separation was rendered possible.