In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, U.S. immigration officials faced an onslaught of immigrants arriving at disembarkation points such as Ellis Island in the United States. In previous decades, most immigrants to the United States had come from northern European countries: England, Germany, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, and others. The bulk of the “new” immigrants were from the countries of eastern and southern Europe: Italy, Russia, Greece, the Baltic states, and the Slavic countries. Others were from non-European countries such as Turkey, Armenia, and Syria. Virtually all were fleeing drought, famine, oppression, war, or religious persecution. These immigrants, however, faced considerable prejudice in the United States.