Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

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Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, Nonprofit Organization, .

AIISF is the primary nonprofit working with Angel
Island State Park to preserve the buildings at the former US Immigration Station on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay (CA).

27/08/2026

Seems like Angel Island State Park has gotten a new ferry! For trainers in town for and looking for some hidden sights and local history, take a trip out to the Angel Island Immigration Station!

Although most people are familiar with the history of immigration through Ellis Island, Angel Island is also part of an important chapter in our nation. Learn about this history and swipe some of our museum’s pokestops while you’re at it.

While lapras won’t be taking you over, Golden Gate Ferry and the Angel Island-Tiburon Ferry Company are sure to be a delight. Golden Gate Ferry leaves from the San Francisco Ferry Building, while Angel Island - Tiburon Ferry leaves from the Tiburon Ferry Terminal. For more details check out the link in the pinned comment below.

20/08/2026

Actions Alerts from AIISF

Your voice is needed on 3 critical issues.
1) Submit comments to the National Asian Pacific American Museum Commission
2) Oppose the closing of the National Archives facilities in San Bruno and Chicago
3) Send a letter in defense of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act

12/08/2026

On August 12, 1940, a fire burned down the immigration station’s administration building, where immigrants faced long interrogations and where women were detained. For thirty years, every immigrant held on Angel Island passed through this building, hoping for a chance to enter the United States.

The fire destroyed office files and some older records, but the most important history survived. Files related to immigrants who entered the country were locked in a fireproof vault, which saved them from being lost. Today, thousands of these historic documents are kept nearby at the National Archives in San Bruno. They hold the names, photos, interview transcripts, and history of families who arrived on these shores.

Now, these records are at risk again. Government plans to move the San Bruno archives would make it very hard for families, community members, and researchers to read their own history. Keeping these documents in San Bruno is an important way to protect history and make sure the truth is never lost or forgotten.

Learn more about the administration building: http://www.aiisf.org/vault/administration

Find your family records: http://www.aiisf.org/vault/familyrecords

Help stop the closure of the National Archives, San Bruno: www.saveournationalarchives.org

Photo: The morning after the administration building fire, 1940. California State Parks, Statewide Museum Collections Center (231-1-475)

10/08/2026

Heading to Angel Island State Park this fall? Bookings for September–December tours open on August 17! Here is what you need to know:

Middle & High School Block Schedules: Free virtual programs are now available! Email [email protected] to schedule. Non-block classes can sign up for notifications for free virtual zoom tours at https://ports.parks.ca.gov.

Please Note: K–12 groups are capped at 40 people max per slot (30 for all others). Guided tours are reserved for 4th grade and up. Groups with 3rd graders or younger should book self-guided tours.

Scholarships Available: Field trip scholarships are available for public K-12 schools. Apply on our website at www.aiisf.org/field-trips. (Reserve your tour slot with Angel Island State Park before applying.)

05/08/2026

Next week 8/13 from 5PM to 8PM, AIISF will be tabling at Lincoln Summer Nights! Come out and spend time in Oakland Chinatown with us. It will be our last night out in the Town so stop by and say hi. We’ll be doing calligraphy and learning about some of the poetry on Angel Island.

04/08/2026

The National Archives and Records Administration has announced plans to close its facilitites in San Bruno, CA and in Chicago, IL. Our colleagues at Save Our National Archives have created a letter-writing campaign to try to prevent this closure. Visit their website (link in comments) to add your voice and perspectives to this call to action.

This is an excerpt from the letter that AIISF sent to support keeping the San Bruno facility open.

“There are over 250,000 immigration-related case files in the San Bruno facility, and it’s one of the most comprehensive collections of files connected to the historical immigration through Angel Island. Over the years, access to these files has been invaluable to AIISF and to the hundreds of families who have reached out to us wanting to learn more about their ancestors. In lieu of closing this facility and moving these files and artifacts from the West Coast to the Midwest, we strongly believe that these items should be kept as close as possible to where these histories happened."

Ed Tepporn
Executive Director

31/07/2026

The immigrants at Angel Island carved over 150 poems into the walls of the detentions barracks. These poems provide a first-person perspective into their emotions and experiences while imprisoned at Angel Island.

The translation is from “Voices of Angel Island: Inscriptions and Immigrant Poetry, 1910-1945” (2021) by Dr. Charles Egan. The voiceover is by Ze Xi Yu.

…

非被困難云無熱血
若因囚仇謂不寒心

玉清氏作
台山唐溪

Those who have not endured hardship
Cannot be said to have hot blood;
Those who have experienced imprisonment
Never have cold hearts.

Composed by Yuqing from Tangxi, Taishan

30/07/2026

Join us tonight (July 30th) at 5 pm Pacific / 8 pm Eastern for Gateways In Dialogue: From Newcomers to National Treasures.

This is the seventh program in our ongoing collaborative series with the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation. What happened once immigrants left these islands? Where did they go? What did they do? Would I know one of them?

Stephen Lean, Director of the American Family Immigration History Center, and Gabriel Lee, Program Coordinator of Education at Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, will cover these questions and personal stories of staff personnel over the course of a 1 hour presentation. They’ll even answer questions you might have in an audience Q+A after the presentation.

29/07/2026

July 31 is the last day to submit your comments to help inform the planning for a potential National Asian Pacific American Museum of History and Culture!

23/07/2026

Tonight (7/23) at 5pm PDT, come hear from Stephen Lean (Director of the American Family Immigration History Center of the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation) and Danielle Wetmore (Director of Education at AIISF) about the history of Ellis and Angel Island. For this Gateways in Dialogue, we’ll be talking about the experiences of children who passed through our respective islands.

Can’t make it to tonight’s session?

Don’t worry next week will also have another Gateways webinar! Next Thursday (7/30) at 5pm PDT we’ll be talking about some of our more famous detainees and their journeys from newcomers to national treasures.

Sign up for either event on our website. Link in Bio.

Address

Telephone

(415)6587691

Website

http://www.aiisf.org/

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