[HiJinx]

Mrs. HJ went to the web site to trace her family's arrival here from Sicily. On the manifest she found, one of the six children traveling with grandmother's family, the youngest - a 4-yr-old - was returned to Sicily because of disease. The rest of the family stayed here in the US.

Pause.

A four year old child was returned to Italy alone because of disease. Yeah, there were standards alright. Maybe not fair, but effective. (I have mixed feelings, because I care about individuals, but I guess that was the right thing to do then. It's probably still right.)

[Serenissima Venezia]

In searching around ellisisland.com about how immigration was handled in the old days, it says that those immigrants that had treatable contagious diseases were quarantined and treated and when cured, released into the U.S. Only those that were not curable were returned. It may not seem fair to not allow a 4 year old to enter the U.S., but lives of Americans that may have contracted whatever she had may have been saved because of it.

Wish our current administration cared that much about us!