An immigrant family on the dock at Ellis Island, 1925. (Photo by Bettmann / Getty)
At the beginning of the 20th century, one of the easiest ways to get marked for deportation at Ellis Island was flunking an eye exam. From 1903 to 1930, trachoma an eye disease caused by Chlamydia trachomatis bacteria, which eventually leads to blindness was classified by the United States Health Service as among the most serious of diseases “brought in” by immigrants. As Grover A. Kemp, a doctor who worked on Ellis Island from 1912 to 1916, recalled, everyone who stepped foot on the island had to undergo an inspection for it: