Similar to the Jim Crow laws in the American South, Angel Island's racial segregation policy was created to keep the classes and races separated throughout the station. Its goal was to separate Asians and non-Asians. They had different entrances, detention quarters, and dining facilities. This ensured Asians and whites had as minimal contact as possible. These differences and segregated situations showed the governments favoritism towards whites. Asians were said to be more susceptible to dangerous diseases and posed as a greater health risk to the public. The hospital portion of the Angel Island was separated into to two distinct buildings. One for Asians and one for whites. Health officials had the power to deem any immigrant as unfit for approval. Asian immigrants, especially the Chinese, reacted strongly to what they believe were invasive and unfair medical procedures. Mr. Lee a detainee in 1930, expressed the sentiment of many Chinese immigrants: "when we first came, we went to the hospital building for the physical examinations. Where every immigrant was required to remove all articles of clothing. They were subjected to humiliating practices throughout the medical process. .
Race continued to be a determining factor in how immigrants were treated differently in their immigration station. One stark example of racial bias in the interrogation process occurred in 1910, when Commissioner of Immigration Daniel Keefe considered whether South Asian and Russian laborers were excludable on the grounds of not meeting the standards to be an American citizen. Souths Asians were targets of a campaign known as the Asiatic Exclusion League. Feeling the pressure to bar South Asians by any means possible, Keefe ordered inspectors to exclude them as a whole on the basis that American prejudice would make it more difficult to find work. .
The immigration polices the American government had set into place didn't effect race alone, it also had a huge impact on the number of women immigrating to the U.
