A NOT-SO-WELCOMING ISLAND
It could be said that the idea for this exhibition had its beginning when I was a child. While eating one of those rice cakes that only my grandmother knew how to make, and which were my favorites, I overheard her tell my mother about her crossing from China to El Salvador. What I remember about her story is that she and my grandfather, who were newly married, came at the request of her father-in-law, my great grandfather, who had already settled in El Salvador; and that on their way here, they were detained for several days on an island in the United States.
That seed was planted when I was eight years old but did not germinate until I had to emigrate to the United States. Watching a program on Ellis Island, the famous island near New York, whose immigration center was the entrance of thousands of Europeans, the notion that this could be the island of my grandmother’s memories crossed my mind. But that would not have been entirely possible, since coming from Asia one would cross the Pacific Ocean and not the Atlantic. Stung by curiosity, and looking to learn about my father’s journey, I began by reading about Chinese immigration to the United States. I discovered Angel Island, off the coast of San Francisco, where there was another immigration center. Here, thousands of Chinese people who wanted to enter the United States or in transit to other countries to the south, such as Mexico and El Salvador, were processed and detained.