On January 21, 1910, the Angel Island Immigration Station opened in San Francisco Bay, serving as the primary port of entry for immigrants from the Pacific. Referred to as the 'Ellis Island of the West,' it was designed to process and detain immigrants, particularly from China, under the restrictive Chinese Exclusion Act. Over the next 30 years, the station processed approximately one million immigrants, many of whom were subjected to lengthy interrogations and harsh conditions. The station operated until 1940 and is now a historic landmark.

Angel Island is a significant site in Asian American literature, most famously for the poetry carved into its walls by detained Chinese immigrants. These poems, collected in works like 'Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island, 1910-1940,' express the anguish, hope, and protest of those waiting for entry. The station has become a powerful symbol of both the promise of America and the racism of its immigration laws, a theme explored in contemporary Asian American poetry and prose.