Ellis Island is known in history as a place that welcomed America's immigrants, but for a time, it also pushed them away.

An estimated 40% of Americans are descended from people who passed through the Ellis Island immigration station during its six decades of operation. But what was the immigration process like?

For decades migrants from Central America have fled their homes from corruption, crime, poverty and violence to seek a better life in the United States. One of the major causes of such strife? The Cold War.

Trace the journey of Boston's Irish population from poverty to power, spearheaded by one man's determination to see justice for his community, in this digital exclusive.