New Americans Museum Celebrates Immigration

A one-of-a kind museum will open its doors to the public this weekend. 10News digital correspondent Evy Ramos took a sneak peek at the New Americans Museum.

"It is a wonderful exhibition that is nationally touring. From here it goes to Los Angeles and we are just excited about the sheer fact that is really shares and meets our expectations of what our goals are, which is really to share the immigrant experience," Gayle Hom, executive director of the New Americans Museum, said. "Immigration is a complex issue. Ideally we would like to service that forum to discuss it and thus our reason for being here."

It is one of a handful of such places around the world, among them the Ellis Island Immigration Museum.

Los Angeles was in the running to house the museum, but the museum's founder decided she wanted to keep it in San Diego and felt she found the perfect location in the NTC Promenade.

"We are just thrilled to be here in San Diego," Hom said. "San Diego is actually considered a gateway for immigration. One in five individuals are foreign born and of course we're in an ideal place to be positioned."

As exhibitions come and go, museum staff plan to continue collecting and sharing both national and local stories of new Americans.

The museum opens to the public Saturday at 11 a.m. with free admission.