Algiers Immigrant Quarantine Detention Center
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Between 1796 and 1893, no fewer than 35 yellow fever epidemics struck New Orleans. The Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1878 caused over 800 deaths in just one month. After 1878, In an attempt to quell the spread of disease, of which the cause was unknown, foreign ships entering the port of New Orleans became subject to more uniform and strict forms of medical quarantine. While these methods were somewhat effective at reducing disease fatalities, the procedures increasingly focused less on preventing the spread of disease and more preventing the entry of “undesirable peoples” believed to have spread the disease. By 1945, quarantine procedure was awash with racist sentiments as immigrants were increasingly detained based on origin rather than illness.
At the 1905 Quarantine and Immigration Conference, officials from all over the South met to discuss measures regarding quarantine and immigration processes. As officials saw it, the two were synonymous. Their fear was that persons entering the United States, specifically from Eastern Europe, carried with them diseases that would infect Americans. This baseless fear increased as more and more immigrants made their way to the United States.
In 1913, The Algiers Immigration Station opened for operation. Government officials placed sanctions on many immigrant groups to prevent their entry into the country and control their movements. Officials barred Italian immigrants, from moving outside of designated districts within the state. Quarantine enforcement measures in New Orleans included shotgun-wielding guards on public roads.
When officials detained immigrants, the staff of the Algiers Immigration Station was responsible for communicating necessary information and procedures to immigrants. This communication was not always clear and officials often could not speak with new arrivals due to language barriers. Quarantined immigrants, deemed “intolerable,” were subjected to uncomfortable and dangerous protocol. New Orleans fumigation units exposed newly arrived immigrants to hydrocyanic gas as part of the disinfection process. At the time, farmers used this chemical as a crop pesticide.
The site of the Algiers Immigration Station served as a camp to house enemies during World War II. The New Orleans Parish School Board owned the property. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Algiers was home to another immigration/migration detention center, though it was located further downriver.
