Situated in New York harbor, Ellis Island serves as an important national symbol of immigration. Currently a museum, during the United States’ busiest era of immigration (1892 to 1954) more than 12 million people looking to call the nation their new home were inspected on the island. Today, one-third of the US population have an ancestor who arrived in America by way of Ellis Island.

On September 16th, Susan Meiselas visited the island and photographed a naturalization ceremony, where 296 people from 53 countries were officially became US citizens.