Ellis Island is another small island in New York Harbor. It became famous for the federal immigration station which was opened there in 1892 and operated until 1954. The great majority of the immigrants arriving from Eastern and Southern Europe at the turn of the century and afterwards (more than 12 million in total) entered the US through Ellis Island. All immigrants had to undergo a physical examination; ill or fragile people were sent back or confined into hospital. In the main building seen in the picture, long lines of newcomers from Italy, Poland, Russia, Hungary and other countries were waiting for immigration officers to decide their fate. In 1965, Ellis Island was declared a National Monument, and today it is an immigration museum.